Responsabilidade, consentimento e cuidado. Ética e moral nos limites da sexualidade

Abstract

Resumo Neste artigo pretendo apresentar alguns dos resultados de uma pesquisa de pós- -doutoramento, na qual acompanhei grupos virtuais e encontros presenciais de interlocutores adeptos de práticas sexuais tidas como “de risco”, tais como o sexo bareback, em eventos exclusivos para homens cisgêneros. O objetivo aqui é analisar um certo regime de regulação ético-moral percebido em campo relativo à preocupação de se afirmar que essas práticas sexuais partem de valores como a “responsabilidade”, o “consentimento” e o “cuidado”. Nas dinâmicas observadas, esses valores se (re)constroem e fissuram a partir do atravessamento de elementos diversos como drogas e medicamentos, além de diversos tensores libidinais. É sobre a produção contextual desses conceitos e a sua relação frente às atuais políticas pública de prevenção que pretendo me debruçar no artigo.

Between risk and pleasure: reflections on HIV prevention and care in the current context of PrEP use by men who have sex with men

“…In other words, even in condomless sex, there are other forms of care that are brought into play above and beyond the biomedical rationale, mediated by native theory or by knowledge stemming from lived bodily experiences, in which different senses (sight, taste, smell, etc.) can serve as "scientific categories" to identify risks, the quality of encounters, and engagement in different practices 13 .…”

“…Thus, the need to protect oneself using whatever technologies are available coexists in tension both with a body that appears more open, unstable, and somewhat unpredictable, and also with different prevention norms and discourses, including the prevention of other STIs. At the same time, if new prevention technologies like PrEP can enhance feelings of safety and freedom, as at bareback orgy parties 13 , it should be noted that different prevention strategies or methods may be brought into play (including a condom) depending on the contingencies and actors involved in the sexual encounter.…”

“…In any attempt to problematize the relationship between risk and pleasure, especially in the situations of condomless sex discussed here, it would be quite wrong to say that people fail to take care of themselves or that they are absolutely free to do whatever they want. In group sex, for instance, there are also "norms" or principles that regulate or impose certain limits, like the idea of consent, even if they may be breached or modified or there may be fissures in what may have been agreed, foreseen or imagined beforehand 13 .…”

“…Complementing the data that point to reduced condom use among PrEP users 49,50,51,52 , we would like to focus on this complex relationship between risk and pleasure, or, as Silva 40 (p. 334) puts it, this "complex network of negotiated losses and gains" that takes place in the diverse reality of sexual encounters, in which interests, emotions, bodies, partners, fantasies, values, prevention strategies, medications, and diverse actants interplay. As Silva-Brandao & Ianni 16 note, also taking the risk of STIs into account, people may negotiate condom use, weighing up their fears and sexual interests in the pursuit of pleasure or even testing out or using drugs like antibiotics as prevention methods 13,16,53 . Meanwhile, in this negotiation between losses and gains or this offsetting of fear and pleasure, the risk inherent to acquiring an STI may be viewed as lower in view of the prospect of treatment and cure 13 .…”

“…For example, in the case of an undetectable viral load, this new status could reduce anxiety about sexual intercourse by decreasing concerns about HIV transmission 12 . As for PrEP, it may also enable enhanced sexual satisfaction and intimacy, and an increased sense of security and ease in situations in which condoms are unavailable or it is hard to negotiate their use 13,14,15,16,17 .…”