'Queer theory is only valuable if it is unsettling,
decentering, even outrageous. Any discussion of the highly controversial issues
of barebacking satisfy such demands of queer theory remarkably. These essays challenge
unsettled matters of barebacking and challenge us to rethink complex,
multilayered questions of contemporary sexual politics.'
David William Foster, Arizona State University
'Finally, queer theory returns to a topic it has had surprisingly little to say about: sex! Varghese’s collection goes where others fear to tread, treating barebacking variously as a subcultural practice, an allegory, and a limit case for thinking, in the wake of the new sexual revolution unleashed by the advent of PrEP. Underpinning these essays is a thrilling wager: that desire demands discourse but resists rationalization.'
Damon R. Young, author of
Making Sex Public and Other Cinematic Fantasies
'Opens up the discourse on barebacking to a variety of perspectives and theoretical arguments, and makes clear that the topic remains relevant, unsettled, and shifting in response to a series of changing circumstances that require thinkers to address the latter’s effects on the subject.'
John Paul Ricco, author of
The Decision Between Us
'RAW provides an account of the state of queer-theoretical scholarship on barebacking today. It
makes a pluralising and distinctive contribution to that body of work, significantly broadening this field of scholarship.'
Oliver Davis, editor of
Bareback Sex and Queer Theory Across Three National Contexts<
'An important contribution to the debate over barebacking, its meanings and it representations. It combines a range of voices and frameworks ranging from the biopolitical to the pornographic, the embodied to the psychoanalytical. Essential for anyone interested in the politics of sex, sexuality and sexual representation today.'
John Mercer, author of
Gay Pornography: Representations of Sexuality and Masculinity
