The Normalization of Leisure Sex and Recreational Drugs: Exploring Associations Between Polydrug Use and Sexual Practices by English Festival-Goers

Abstract

The relationship between drug use and sexual practice is complex. Significant focus has been placed on risky practices, yet the broader associations between drug use and sexual activities remain elusive outside such contexts. This is despite similar trends of liberalizing attitudes and practices being identified in each area, theorized as the normalization of recreational drug use and the liberalization of consensual sexual practice. In this article, we draw on convenience sample surveys of 966 festival-goers at an English music festival in 2016 and 2019 to assess prevalence of polydrug use and to examine whether people who consume illicit drugs are more likely to engage in sexual behaviors considered more liberal than the traditional norm. We show that people who reported polydrug use in the last 12 months were significantly more likely to engage in non-traditional sexual behaviors, including sex with a friend and anal sex, in that same time period. In combining and comparing two usually distinct discourses, this exploratory study suggests that the normalization of drugs and the liberalization of consensual sexual practices are related and can be conceptualized as part of a broader societal acceptance and cultural accommodation of illicit drug use and particular sexual practices as leisure activities, despite markedly different policy and legal contexts for each activity. We conclude that the concept of “normalization” may be more appropriate to understanding changes in sexuality than “liberalization” in the context of “leisure sex” and call for further cross-disciplinary research on drugs and sex using this approach.

Kink in an English Field: The Drinking, Drug use and Sexual Practices of English Festival-Goers Who Engage in Kink

“…The list is not intended to be exhaustive of all sexual activities that have potentially become more inclusive in recent years, but a selection that could be indicative of the broader population of possible sexual practices to make asking the question in a short face-to-face survey within a leisure setting practicable. The rationale for the practices included in the survey is provided elsewhere (McCormack et al, 2021 ). The broader project sought to identify shifts in practices related to non-traditional sexual practices not included in a traditional norm of reproduction-oriented sexual intercourse within a monogamous relationship (McCormack et al, 2021 ); a norm that was predominant in the mid-twentieth century and has changed significantly since (e.g., Frank & McEneaney, 1999 ).…”

“…The rationale for the practices included in the survey is provided elsewhere (McCormack et al, 2021 ). The broader project sought to identify shifts in practices related to non-traditional sexual practices not included in a traditional norm of reproduction-oriented sexual intercourse within a monogamous relationship (McCormack et al, 2021 ); a norm that was predominant in the mid-twentieth century and has changed significantly since (e.g., Frank & McEneaney, 1999 ). Evidence shows that people no longer view sexual intercourse as necessarily aimed at reproduction, and oral sex and sex with contraceptives have become normative (Abma & Martinez, 2017 ; Habel et al, 2018 ), so we did not ask about these practices.…”

“…The survey is administered verbally by a team of trained researchers under the direction of the authors. The researchers record answers (on paper in 2016 and on electronic tablets in 2019), facilitating opportunities to answer queries from respondents, and provide direct assurances of confidentiality (see McCormack et al, 2021 ). Care was taken in researcher positioning onsite, in order to maximize privacy for respondents when conducting surveys, by being less likely to be overheard by friends, relatives or passing strangers.…”

“…Despite a dominant cultural narrative of drug regulation being about safety and control, laws and cultural norms construct gay male drug users in biomedical ways that stigmatize their practices and sexual cultures and thus impede access to sexual health services (Race, 2009 ). His work has spurred a research agenda examining the interactional and discursive meanings of sexual-psychoactive subcultures (e.g., Hakim, 2019 ; Souleymanov et al, 2019 ), as well as different approaches to considering the intersections of sex and drugs (McCormack et al, 2021 ; Moyle et al, 2020 ).…”

Debunking the myth of ‘Blue Mondays’: No evidence of affect drop after taking clinical MDMA

“…Second, recreational MDMA consumption is often concurrent with consumption of other legal or illicit drugs, including alcohol, cannabis and other stimulants. In a convenience sample survey of festivalgoers, over nine in ten MDMA users also consumed alcohol on the fieldwork day and over three quarters of MDMA crystal users were also taking or planning to take at least one other illicit drug; two-thirds of ecstasy pill users were also taking or planning to take at least one other illicit drug (McCormack et al, 2021). A related issue is that the strength of an ecstasy pill is seldom known when purchased on the illicit market, rarely equates to a common adult dose of 100–120 mg of MDMA, and can vary considerably, from zero up to over 350 mg of MDMA (Safer Party, 2021).…”