Yes, I think that they don't have a fucking clue as to the consequences. Lots of people have a desire, a fetish for something until they actually experience it. And you can't really understand something until you've lived through it. From the article:
Now Hitzel understands all too clearly what bug chasing can do to a young man's life, but it's too late for him. After six months of bug chasing, Hitzel succeeded in getting the virus... Once he got home, he did the test and found out he was positive. He now wakes up each day with a terrible frustration that's just below the surface of his once sunny demeanor. He hates the medication he has to take every day, and he realizes that HIV affects nearly every part of his life. While he was bug chasing, Hitzel couldn't imagine ever wanting to be in a relationship again. But now that he's getting his life back in order, he realizes that being HIV-positive can be a roadblock to new relationships.
...the thing I can best relate this to is the stories of professional dommes who have clients who are turned on by the scat scene. Most ask to try it once and realise that they don't actually like it, there's a reason that most of the world is disgusted by it, and never try it again. In this case, you can't just try it once and never do it again, you're fucked for life. So yes, I think these people need to be protected from themselves, the same way anorexics and bulemics do... starting chatrooms on the internet and talking about these things may make them feel that it's more valid, but it becomes an echo chamber. Rather than helping themselves get over the mental illness, they're only feeding into each other's desire and false sense of reality.
There are two types of forbidden things in the world. (And this is a lot more deep than mores and folkways, here...) There are the ones that society forbids because it's, let's say, out-of-vogue - these are the rules that's it's ok to break. Then there are the ones that are forbidden becuase they're harmful to yourself or others. In the latter case, morality is an issue.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 06:22 pm (UTC)Now Hitzel understands all too clearly what bug chasing can do to a young man's life, but it's too late for him. After six months of bug chasing, Hitzel succeeded in getting the virus... Once he got home, he did the test and found out he was positive. He now wakes up each day with a terrible frustration that's just below the surface of his once sunny demeanor. He hates the medication he has to take every day, and he realizes that HIV affects nearly every part of his life. While he was bug chasing, Hitzel couldn't imagine ever wanting to be in a relationship again. But now that he's getting his life back in order, he realizes that being HIV-positive can be a roadblock to new relationships.
...the thing I can best relate this to is the stories of professional dommes who have clients who are turned on by the scat scene. Most ask to try it once and realise that they don't actually like it, there's a reason that most of the world is disgusted by it, and never try it again. In this case, you can't just try it once and never do it again, you're fucked for life. So yes, I think these people need to be protected from themselves, the same way anorexics and bulemics do... starting chatrooms on the internet and talking about these things may make them feel that it's more valid, but it becomes an echo chamber. Rather than helping themselves get over the mental illness, they're only feeding into each other's desire and false sense of reality.
There are two types of forbidden things in the world. (And this is a lot more deep than mores and folkways, here...) There are the ones that society forbids because it's, let's say, out-of-vogue - these are the rules that's it's ok to break. Then there are the ones that are forbidden becuase they're harmful to yourself or others. In the latter case, morality is an issue.