Ok it's 1:30 in the morning. The reason that I'm not already asleep is because 1) Im a teenager it's what we do 2) Sleeping is boring and 3) I just drank a 44oz. cup of fanta, the red one. So I was supposed to go get my HIV test results on friday, but like the smart person I am I forgot so I'm going tomorrow and my roommate is coming with me. When I went to get the test I was feelin all well "I know I don't have HIV so I'm not worried about the test." The truth is I'm a teenager I'm not sexually active in a way that I'm bouncing from one guy to the other but once you think about the times that you could have been more careful or done one more thing that could have ensured that you were safe. When the truth is the safest sex is no sex at all.
Which has me thinking are there ways to contract HIV without having vaginal sex? Not counting the breast milk, needles, etc.
So according to avert.org there are other sexual ways to contract HIV without having vaginal sex. I have to be specific about the kind of sex because I have friends who think that oral sex is not considered sex even though the word sex is in the title.
Anal, Oral, and Vaginal sex are ways that HIV can be transmitted. If someone has an ulcer in the mouth or if a girl is on her period than the risk for transmission is higher because it's easier to get in the bloodstream.
Avert.org states that "If used correctly and consistently, condoms are highly effective at preventing HIV transmission....Condoms are effective at preventing HIV during both vaginal and anal sex and can help to reduce the risks during oral sex too."
I don't know how much of that I believed specifically since according to Trojan "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and former Surgeon General Koop, along with many other health professionals, have advocated the use of latex condoms as the best available protection, other than abstinence, against the AIDS virus. When used properly, latex condoms also help prevent the transmission of other STDs, including gonorrhea, genital herpes, chlamydia, syphilis and hepatitis-B. The FDA, which regulates condom packaging, states that it’s important to read the condom packaging to determine if the condom will help protect against STDs."
So at this moment they are the "best" alternative we have. They won't prevent it they will only reduce the risk and since when is anyone who's having sex going to stop and read a condom package to "determine if the condom will help protect against STDs."? Our minds are somewhere else at the moment like getting the condom out of the package. But, just so I wasn't only using Trojan for my mini research I decided to find out what Lifestyles had to say.
And let me just say before I even got to how protective a condom is against HIV I liked the Lifestyles website. They have an area where there are statistics about STDs and AIDs, HIV, and I learned from their website that women are 5x more likely to contract HIV. So here are some more of their statistics:
"Only latex condoms provide the best protection against STDs." So no lambskin
"The worst place to carry a condom is in your back pocket; a shirt pocket or protective case is better." We're college students we're broke so most guys don't carry a wallet and just stick it in their back pocket.
So from condoms like I've said we have the best AVAILABLE protection but do we really want to settle for just the best available option right now? I'm guessing that since HIV/AIDS and STD rates are so high that we are.
Works Cite:
http://www.avert.org/howcan.htm
http://www.trojancondoms.com/Product/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=48
http://www.lifestyles.com/facts.php
When use correctly, each and every time, a condom will prevent the transmission of HIV. Notice that the operative words are used correctly every time. The problem with condom usage is that the correct way to use a condom is not taught in school. Most people do not read the inserts and many learn how from talking to someone who says they have used a condom.
ReplyDeleteWhen a condom is rolled down the penis, it will come up against pubic hair which can cause the wearer to back it off as it pinches and causes pain. However, that could lead to the condom coming off during intercourse.
Many people do not lubricate the condom with enough lubrication thinking that the condom manufacturer put it on so it must be enough. Wrong!
Condoms should be part of foreplay with both parties involved with putting it on and making sure it will stay on.
I'm sure the latex companies want you to believe that only latex condoms protect against a host of things, but so do polyurethane condoms. Lambskin have microscopic holes in them, after all they are made from the intestines of baby sheep, and therefore HIV can find its way through. Latex or polyurethane condoms don't have holes unless a fingernail made one as it was being taken out of the package.
There is a lot to learn about condoms and how to use them correctly if one expects to protect themselves against STDs.
Oh, and it is spelled AIDS, not AIDs.
Nice blog, Megan. Love the pictures.
Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing is that we're not taught the correct way to put on a condom. I watched movies and saw how they had the sex ed classes where they put a condom on a banana to teach the proper way. I always wanted to have a class like that, but the only class I had was one in 4th grade that told you about the "change" that your body went through from adolescence to puberty.
ReplyDeleteI think there should be a class offered that teaches that if you're going to have sex the proper way to do it. That also poses the problem that many people will think they already know the right way to have sex and won't want to take the class.