When I ask Ley if he believes cum addiction is real, he says straightforwardly: “This ain’t a real ‘addiction,’ but unlike the concept of sex addiction, this term isn’t filled with shame and heteronormative morality. It’s hard to argue, though, that cum is “addictive” in the same way as drugs or alcohol. Ley corroborates this link, saying the “money shot has had a powerful emotive response, which has been theorized to relate to the rise of AIDS.” That said, not all cum addicts are into it for that reason - some just like the feeling, the taste and the myriad non-AIDS things it symbolizes. When explaining why he loves guys to cum inside of him, Carl looks specifically to porn and its fixation with the “money shot” - aka the cum shot, the “money-maker” and the big event in mainstream porn. “There was one performer who would tease guys with his cock before putting a condom on,” he says, describing his brief, frenzied excitement that even just the tip would be allowed to slip in bareback. “That deep emotional, unconscious shiver of naughty taboo ‘feeds’ the lightning charge of excitement that some people - of all genders - get from interacting with semen.”Ĭase in point: On an episode of the podcast Demystifying Gay Porn, a self-described cum addict known only as Carl reminisces fondly on pre-AIDS porn and its naïve reluctance to use condoms. “Human sexuality responds very powerfully to the taboo, and since the 1980s, unprotected sexual contact has been a very powerful taboo representing danger,” explains Ley. Yet, it was the wildly homophobic media coverage of the AIDS crisis - AIDS was initially known as GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency - that amped up this sense of danger even more, framing anal sex - and cum in particular - as synonymous with death and illness. A small number of people are even allergic to the stuff. It’s a risky substance, after all - it almost always carries the chance of unwanted impregnation when there’s a uterus involved, and STIs like chlamydia and syphilis are easily passed through semen. Today, however, cum is more often seen as forbidden fruit.
Ley explains that ancient Egyptians placed cum on a particular pedestal rumor has it Pharaohs jacked off into the River Nile to increase its fertility, whereas a god named Atum “even created the universe from his ejaculate, according to some myths.” Samuel-Auguste Tissot, a Swiss physician who lived and worked throughout the 18th century, even believed masturbation was a waste of good semen, which Ley said he thought of as an “essential component of masculinity.” Even now, Tissot’s sentiments are echoed by a handful (sorry) of Reddit’s NoFap messiahs. Ley, a clinical psychologist and author of The Myth of Sex Addiction. “ has always been a powerful, visceral symbol of masculinity, virility and male sexuality,” says David J. Naturally, scratching the surface of these taboo tales uncovers a pretty fascinating history. While breeding fetishists are largely turned on by the thrill of insemination or the straight-up joy of taking a warm, creamy load, stories of cum addiction are instead tied to the roots of slut-shaming and HIV stigma.
So-called “cum addiction” is different from breeding kink, a long-held fetish that recently dominated TikTok. But as it turns out, there are a few real stories of “cum addiction” out there, all of them told by self-professed cum addicts who just can’t get enough of that sweet spunk. Type the words “cum addict” into any search engine and you’ll be flooded with vigorous blow-job videos and hardcore bukkake porn.