Subcultural webs of (health)care in kinked communities of gay fist-fuckers

Abstract

Existing research on kink-identified people’s healthcare experiences has focused largely on encounters with mainstream systems, where disclosing kink practices can invite stigma, misunderstanding, or denial of care. Far less attention has been given to the alternative forms of (health)care cultivated within kink subcultures themselves. This article reports findings from a qualitative study of such practices among fist-fuckers. An international sample of 20 kink-identified gay men participated in four online focus groups. Reflexive thematic analysis generated five themes: (1) skill and resource exchange; (2) emotional and psychological support; (3) placemaking care; (4) embodied and experiential knowledge; and (5) communal care and resilience. Framed through queer worldmaking, the findings show how everyday care practices among fist-fuckers form subcultural webs of health promotion and (health)care grounded in reciprocity, intimacy, and collective responsibility rather than hierarchical biomedical models. These practices are affective, emergent, and distributed through embodied knowledge and a communal ethics of care. The article argues that fist-fuckers enact queer worldmaking through the construction of health-and kink-sustaining subcultural webs that allow them to flourish in their kink. In doing so, they offer a critical rethinking of what counts as care, who provides it, where it takes place, and the ethics which organise it.