Chemsex as wild self-care

Abstract

Chemsex has received increasing scholarly attention over the past few years and is frequently defined as the sexualised use of synthetic drugs. There is an emerging binary within the literature on chemsex that portrays it as either inherently risky or liberatory. This binary assumes that chemsex is a stable category of sex and always involves integrating ‘dangerous’ synthetic substances into sex. Drawing from interviews with 16 gay/queer men and individuals who identified with the gay community from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, I critique the underpinning assumptions of this binary and show how these individuals used chemsex as a technique of ‘wild self-care’. This unique model of self-care recuperates ‘dangerous’ practices in emancipatory and life-affirming ways. It shows how chemsex is both risky and liberatory in ever-changing and unexpected ways.