(Vaginal sex comes with the risk of unplanned pregnancy, but that can be mitigated with other forms of contraception.) Still, there are plenty of people out there who knowingly take the risk to have bareback sex with their partners. There are serious risks to having anal or vaginal sex without a condom-STIs being the main one. (More recently, the term has been co-opted by some straight folks to describe unprotected vaginal penetration, too.) When you're riding a man-or a man is riding you-without a condom, well, that’s bareback sex. The phrase stems from equestrianism: You're said to be riding “bareback” when you're riding a horse without a saddle. 'Bareback sex' is a common term in the gay male community that originated in the mid-'90s it means having anal sex without a condom.
