Lust, Trust and Latex: Why young heterosexual men don't use condoms

Abstract

My research involves a critical analysis of the sexual cultures of young heterosexual Australian men. This research is driven by the need to understand and prevent the heterosexual sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS. I focus on young heterosexual men’s understandings and experiences of condom use and non-use, given that condoms are a key means of preventing the sexual transmission of HIV. ¶ I conducted in-depth interviews with seventeen men, using these to explore sexual practices and the meanings and sociosexual relations through which these are organised. This ‘close-focus’ qualitative approach is oriented to assessing the interplay between men’s personal experience and the social relations of sexuality and gender. I draw on empirical feminist investigations of women’s relation to HIV/AIDS, the critical scholarship on men and masculinities and masculine sexualities, and sociological scholarship on sexualities. ¶ ...