PlayNice, a campaign promoting responsible sex among MSM
(men who have sex with men, including gay, bisexual and heterosexual men)
is proud to announce the launch of the second annual photographic
exhibition entitled Taking a Risk for Safer Sex. The exhibition features
commissioned photographs of over fifty Cape Town men, either naked or
semi-clothed, supporting the campaign’s focus on men’s sexual health and
HIV prevention.
In tandem with the FIFA World Cup, the theme of this year’s exhibition is
sport, with over sixty selected photographs celebrating the interface
between responsible play and sport in the context of amongst others,
soccer, cricket, surfing, rugby, wrestling, swimming and diving, boxing,
golf, baseball and body building. It also features naked fans, the concept
of chastity, a naked referee plus a naked medic and incorporates vuvuzelas,
flags and jockstraps and at times disco balls replace soccer balls.
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South African society has difficulty in addressing our
diverse sexualities and HIV preventative strategies are often negated by
our collective taboos surrounding sex, impacting specifically on
male-to-male sexual interactions that expose men and their loved ones to
risks. While heterosexist society tends to objectify the female body as
‘sexual’, participating men are given a platform to claim and celebrate
their own sexualities in diverse ways through an event that is totally
inclusive irrespective of bodiliness, age or race and allows black men, in
particular, an opportunity to dispel the myth of male-to-male sexuality
being unAfrican. The association between sport and sexuality suggests that
participants need to abide by a shared set of rules that are collectively
understood and accepted which, in the arena of HIV, translates into
responsible sexual behaviour. The exhibition focuses on men’s inhibitions
about their bodies while encouraging men to contemplate the sexual health
risks they expose their bodies to. It also highlights the need to
challenge social taboos around human sexuality and encourages us to bring
male-to-male sexual expression out of the closet.
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