“It feels better to some people physically or emotionally. The act of removing a barrier between you can be symbolic of removing emotional barriers in some cases.” – Kenneth Play
Read more about fluid bonding in the article What Is Fluid Bonding and How Can You Make It a Part of Your Sex Life? by Gigi Engle for TheBody
And read on for more that didn’t make it into the article:
Fluid bonding is when you exchange any kind of bodily fluids, but especially those that carry the risk of STI transmission.
People sometimes feel closer psychologically without putting physical barriers in between them. Whether this is from the symbolic act itself of erecting a barrier, the trust that the act entails, the increased pleasure that many report experiencing without using barrier methods, or a combination of these, many people experience the act of fluid bonding as relatively significant emotionally.
You increase your STI risk anytime you fluid bond with another person. There are varying degrees of risk. For instance, if you are monogamous, you’re less likely to contract an STI through fluid bonding than if your partner has many other sex partners. However, this dynamic is reversed if your supposedly monogamous partner is cheating on you and not using protection. Cheating is not uncommon and occurs in approximately ⅓ to ⅕ of long term relationships, so your risk of STI transmission really increases in any circumstance of fluid bonding. The question is to what degree.
When it comes to sexual risk tolerance, it’s quite a controversial arena, but risk tolerance varies. We shouldn’t shame people with higher risk tolerance, but we should be transparent about what our choices are. As long as both parties are being honest, and everyone is being clear about how their behavior affects others, there is no good reason to shame others with a higher risk tolerance than you.
