Because regular selfies aren’t quite as intimate as they could be, here’s a bombshell idea for you — the shower selfie.
It’s sexy, shows you’ve got proper hygiene practices and also has an element of danger. Will your phone get ruined or won’t it?
And now as an added bonus, your steamy shower shot can now also spread awareness (and hopefully money) for finding a cure for HIV and ending homelessness. Who knew a selfie could be so selfless?
It’s all part of a new campaign called #weareALLclean.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“I was inspired by the use of the word ‘clean’, especially common in gay culture, to describe oneself as STI/STD free. Indirectly this implies that HIV-positive people are somehow ‘dirty'”, says campaign founder Jack Mackenroth.
The CDC estimates that there are currently 1.2 million people in the US living with HIV and over 35 million people around the world, and the goal of the campaign is to raise 1 million dollars to stop the epidemic and find a cure.
The idea is simple:
- Take a selfie or Vine video of yourself in the shower (keep it PG-13)
- Post your photo on social media with the caption “Take HIV Shower Selfie Challenge raise $$ for AIDS cure bit.ly/CUREAIDS #weareALLclean
- Challenge 3 or more other people to participate!
- (Optional) DONATE!! Please consider a small donation if you are able. Every penny counts! bit.ly/CUREAIDS
- On World AIDS Day: Monday, December 1st, please change all your social media profile pix to your shower selfie photo and spread the word
- On World AIDS Day: Monday, December 1st, change all your social media profile pix to your shower selfie photo and spread the word
But enough about that, here’s a few entries to get you started:
RT! Take the HIV Shower Selfie Challenge and help raise $$ for an AIDS cure! http://t.co/tqRESaIIik #weareALLclean pic.twitter.com/JaD0SGY0ai
— Chris Salvatore (@CSalvatore) November 24, 2014
“@jackmackenroth: RT! Take HIV Shower Selfie Challenge raise $$ for AIDS cure! http://t.co/8hLd2QCVOq #weareALLclean pic.twitter.com/6LJhhLvFhJ”
— Tammie Stuart (@thetank717) November 24, 2014
Take HIV Shower Selfie Challenge raise $$ for AIDS cure http://t.co/VxmFjl1TjA #weareALLclean pic.twitter.com/22rjNdomnh
— Jessie Colter (@jessiecolterxxx) November 24, 2014
VampDC
How about finding a way to keep your clothes on and raise money.
Aids/HIV is already commonly stereotyped with overly sexual gay men, no need to add fuel to the fire.
Paco
Well this isn’t going to go over very well with the queerty commenters that love to label themselves as “clean”. Good to see people trying to raise money for cure research.
Let the b1tch1ng commence.
tjwdraws
Technically those are not really “selfies” they are portraits or just pictures. A “selfie” is: “…taken with a camera held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer.”
But hey, who cares, let’s find a cure for this nasty virus!
vive
I want Jack Mackenroth’s steroid regimen. 🙂
I love condoms
I will just come out and say it…I think the #weareALLclean shower selfie challenge is about the stupidest idea that I’ve ever heard of. We all want a cure for HIV/AIDs, but is taking a half naked shower selfie the best way to get a message across about raising money for a cure?
In addition to a fundraising message about a cure, shouldn’t there be an HIV prevention challenge campaign?
I would love to see a campaign that includes a hot guy holding a condom saying…”I use a condom 100% of the time to prevent HIV/STDs.” #StayNEGATIVE
A cure message should also include a prevention message!
Realityis
The thought of this campaign is great but the implementation sucks. There are thousands of people who are HIV + but have lipodystrophy, that won’t go away. This campaign is insensitive to them, me being included, because I would never submit a photo. Why do we need to glamorize HIV? Jack Macenroth looks like he’s on cycle 10 of steroids. How is tthat a positive message?
We need to stop fooling around and make them come out with the cure and stop these shallow campiness. We are such a shallow people….
Realityis
Correction… Campiness should be campaign…
Bromosh
@VampDC: Um… the whole purpose is to show that we are “ALL CLEAN”… did that go over your head? This isn’t sexualized. It’s funny, and could be effective for raising awareness
Bromosh
@I love condoms: This isn’t an HIV prevention campaign. Those exists. There are in fact LOTS of those. This is an anti-HIV shaming campaign. Maybe you are just one of the pricks that thinks it’s ok to say “Be clean please” in reference to HIV when you’re on Grindr.
As for the “half-naked selfie” it’s no different than a bathing suit photo. It isn’t sexualized. It’s supposed to be campy and funny. The Ice-Bucket Challenge was pretty dumb and had nothing to do with anything, but look how effective it was. If you don’t like this, then don’t participate… don’t call it dumb. What exactly are you doing to promote HIV/AIDS research? Probably nothing from your high-horse.
Bromosh
@Realityis: That’s your body issue to deal with. I’m chubby and HIV+ and I would totally do this. I think the issue you’re talking about is about body-shaming, and self-loathing. I think a photo of people who have been taking HIV meds for long time who show those side effects would be an extremely powerful message to a lot of people. Hiding yourself and being afraid of showing yourself just furthers the idea that there is something “wrong” with you.
iggy6666
Promote awareness or THEMSELVES?!?! how many people that take these photos actually donate??? Much like the ice bucket challenge or penis sock stunt. …… A look at ME ME ME tactic of narcistic folk
Bromosh
@iggy6666: Um… the ice bucket challenge was the most successful fundraising campaign in recent history. Get over yourself, and donate, or go somewhere else to bitch. You’re obviously doing so much to help.
Realityis
@Bromosh: is your chubby ness related to lipodystrophy.? If not then you don’t know what it’s about. But you are right that it is a body issue I have to deal with and have been for at least 10 years. Not talking about body shaming or self loathing as I was a fitness instructor for many years. I am proud of what I have done for myself, but the meds side effects are something I have no control over. I’ve spent a good amount of money trying to correct these horrid side effects, but nothing has worked. I’m angry and what we need is a cure not a bunch of lame gestures by narcissistic people who only want to stay in the spotlight.
iggy6666
@Bromosh: I do donate. And don’t make a big spectacle about it. Im only mentioning it now because you called me out… Stop trying to police the comment board.
semtex
Thanks think I’ll stay dirty, fuck me fuck my funk.
Saint Law
Next up: The Take a Dump Selfie Challenge to raise awareness for HIV.
#OurAssesALLStink
Cam
Anything associated with Jack Mackenroth now just seems to have a whiff of desperation. He tried to do the same thing with the HIV Equal campaign, with the “Naked” pictures. That wasn’t working so it seems like they’ve given the campaign a face-lift, changed Equal to Clean and are trying the exact same thing, since it failed to catch on and bring in the bucks to it’s creator like the “NoH8” campaign that they originally copied.
From their webpage “”The concept is the brainchild of well-known HIV activist, Jack Mackenroth who has partnered with Moovz, the leading global gay social app, to launch the project.” So yeah, I guess he wasn’t getting paid enough from the HIV Equals campaign.
As for their publicity, it seems disconnected. They say that they want money to find a cure, but all of the money, if you go to their page goes to a charity in NYC called “Housing Works”. Which is not a charity about finding a cure, it’s about providing housing and other options to HIV positive people.
The charity sounds like a good cause, but why the purposefully misleading from their webpage.
Housing works is big in housing people, providing them dental and medical care, and most recently in providing aid to Haiti to help the situation there.
Just seems like another opportunity for Mackenroth to pose naken for yet another of his “Campaigns”. No doubt he is getting a percentage of the money brought in as most fundraisers do.
AxelDC
How are these even selfies? It’s obvious someone else is holding the camera, so they are “shower portraits”.
Tackle
Jack Mackrnroth is alwsys at the forfront of some silly campaign using sex/semi nude pics to get his point across. And most times failing . Like the we’re all equal campaign: which failed to pick up steam and died at the doorstep.
Jack lost me when he allowed that self hating homophobie,
Nick Gurber to pose in his HIV=Equal campaign: and dismissed Nick’s actions, like it was no big deal. And he wonders why he does not have the support of a lot of gay men…
And I believe Jack has some deep rooted unresolved insecurity rissues about being an gay, HIV positive man. What he does with
these campaings, is not HIV prevention. He’s trying to change the
minds of the majority of gay men, and want’s HIV to be seen as
something normal. Something we all have, regardless of if we have it or not. And I’m not sure it that’s a good thing…
I love condoms
@Bromosh: Why is it that when someone mentions HIV Prevention it’s thought of as Anti-HIV or Shaming?
All I’m saying is that with new HIV infections on the rise, it’s obvious that existing HIV prevention campaigns are not working, and just as much work needs to be done to stop new infections, as is needed to find a cure.
From my high horse I always preach HIV prevention 100% of the time, and when I go on Grindr I don’t use the word “CLEAN” because it’s meaningless. I’ve chatted with guys who classify themselves as CLEAN-UNDETECTABLE. Now how crazy is that?
I always use the words “are you HIV negative?”
I love condoms
@Tackle: I totally agree with you that some HIV poz guys are trying to make HIV be seen as something normal.
I’m tired of dudes who at one point made some really bad choices, and are now trying to re-brand HIV as a rite of passage for all gay men. It’s not a rite of passage, it’s a disease that is 100% preventable…if you make good choices.
Geeker
The fact that the campaign has that media whore roid bunny Jack Macenroth as it’s representative is a bad sign,also just like his HIV= campaign apparently it’s only hot people who matter.
Cam
@Geeker:
You make a good point. Perhaps some of these people need to walk outside their neighborhood once in a while.
1. I notice all of their promo shots are minor celebs who are used to taking these shots.
2. Do they think that some lesbian couple from Little Rock who are worrying about PTA meetings are going to have shower shots? Or a gay couple from Denver who have two kids under the age of 5 and make it to the gym twice a week if they are lucky are going to have nude shots of themselves uploaded to this campaign?
I get that Mekenroth has been seemingly desperately trying any way possible to get more naked shots of himself in any campaign he can, but who actually thought this type of campaign would gain any type of traction outside of it’s neighborhood, and maybe WeHo, etc…
Trippy
@Cam: As is typically the case, I defer to you, Cam. You usually post the most logical comments. I can’t say it any better.
And yeah… I doubt this “campaign” will raise much money for the cause of an HIV cure or do much to help anyone (aside from the bank accounts of those who started it).
vive
@I love condoms, I don’t agree with your blame-the-victim approach to HIV. Almost every single one of us have had sex without a condom at least once in our lives, even if only as an uninformed teenager, in a relationship we thought was monogamous, or with someone we trusted. Almost every one of us who has remained negative is negative because we were simply lucky.
Whatever the weaknesses of this campaign, if it can make some people aware of how dehumanizing the word “clean” is in the context of dating, then it will have accomplished something.
I love condoms
@vive: I wouldn’t say that those of use who have remained negative is because we were simply lucky. HIV has been around 30+ years, and some of us, after seeing how so many lives were devastated by the disease, decided that we would take a pro-active approach when it comes to our sexual health and eliminate our risk of HIV exposure….and that means wrapping it up 100% of the time when you’re not sure of your sexual partners HIV status.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
It’s not a selfie if both hands are showing. You just had someone take pictures of you in your shower… Jessie Colter.
Furthermore, Chris Salvatore is a babe, and I think we all know that Samual Colt is “tsicar” (spelled backwards so as not to set off the oh so sensitive, anti-non-white Queerty censors) bitch!
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@iggy6666: I actually thought the Ice Bucket Challenge was that you either donate some money to the cause, or you dump a bucket of ice water on your head; hence a challenge. I was actually getting pretty heated seeing what I thought were a multitude of millionaires (namely Andy Cohen) electing to dump the water on their heads instead.
Merv
This campaign is not just useless, it’s harmful. It encourages people to ignore the status of their sex partners. “We’re all clean. Go ahead and have sex with HIV+ people. Serostatus doesn’t matter.” It’s a ridiculous message. We have no idea how far off a cure is. Prevention is all we have right now. That’s where the emphasis should be.
vive
@I love condoms, “that means wrapping it up 100% of the time when you’re not sure of your sexual partners HIV status.”
That’s exactly my point – you are NEVER sure of your partner’s status. If you have had condomless (or PrEP-less) sex even once in your life (as it sounds from this qualification you added in your post), then the fact that you are HIV-negative is because you are lucky, not because you are so smart.
vive
@@I love condoms. also, even if you always used condoms, you are still lucky (not smart or virtuous) that they didn’t break.
vive
@Merv: “It encourages people to ignore the status of their sex partners. “We’re all clean. Go ahead and have sex with HIV+ people. Serostatus doesn’t matter.””
First, that is not what the message is. And second, if you think serosorting is a good HIV prevention tactic, then you have learned nothing from all the many HIV education campaigns. For your own sake, you should treat every partner as potentially HIV positive.
Merv
@vive: Serosorting is an excellent HIV prevention measure. Nobody ever said that it’s perfect, or that it should be used to the exclusion of all other measures, but for some reason the anti-serosorting brigade likes to prop up that straw man. Serosorting implies frequent testing, and that’s one of the things we’re lacking most.
vive
@Merv: “Serosorting is an excellent HIV prevention measure.”
It is not. Please provide references if you are going to make wild and potentially dangerous claims like this one.
Merv
@vive: This may be hard to understand, but if you don’t have sex with a person with HIV, then for all practical purposes, it is impossible for you to get HIV (barring transfusions, etc.). Reading between the lines of your question, it’s clear to me that you’re still propping up the absurd straw man that serosorting is being proposed as the only component of a personal strategy of HIV prevention. So, let me explain how serosorting works for a responsible HIV- gay man in the real world. In the real world, a responsible HIV- gay man considers people to go on dates with, looking for a potential stable partner. (As an aside, “going on a date” is not a euphemism for having casual, anonymous sex. A responsible gay man already knows that that is not responsible.) In the process of considering partners, this responsible HIV- gay man excludes many men from the dating pool, among these are men known or believed to be HIV+. He would also exclude people he didn’t find attractive, believes to be untrustworthy, promiscuous, etc. After dating has begun, before they engage in any higher risk sex (oral or anal, even with condom), both partners get tested and discuss their sexual history. If they are satisfied with the results, then they might eventually consider protected higher risk sex as part of a monogamous relationship, along with continued frequent testing. If you think the above description is unrealistic, I can assure you it’s not. It’s more or less how I have done things, with only a few minor deviations.
It’s clear that, to you, serosorting probably means engaging in unprotected, high risk anonymous sex with thousands of different people, but asking “are you clean?” beforehand. Only an idiot thinks that’s an effective strategy.
In summary, serosorting is part of the criteria used to select a monogamous partner. It’s not a way to make promiscuous sex safe.
Now, I can hear you screaming “but your partner might cheat!”. Yes, that’s always a possibility. But, that’s why you still use condoms and still get tested.