If anyone has read some of the things I've posted, it's clear that I'm not a fan of condoms. But just to be clear, I believe that we are lied to about everything and therefore, I don't buy into the hustle about the alleged health hazards. I also believe that direct human to human contact is essential for healthy mental and emotional development of human beings and the ethical development of our societies. So I'm just curious to see how many other people won't use condoms. And it would also be interesting to see what the difference of opinions are between the sexes.
I am a young male that absolutely wouldn't have sex without some form of birth control. Until my lady is on the pill, condoms are a must. But I am also an avid hater of Trojans =P
I did it one time without a condom and it felt amazing but I do not want a kid or a disease at the moment so I always wrap my dick
Unless i've known the girl for a long time, condom is a must. I hate the fucking things but their is no way i want to see a little mini me running around anytime soon. I can hardly afford myself as is.
It appears that the biggest issue is accidental pregnancy. Ok, I guess that means that things haven't changed much since my day.
We use them, not as often as we should since I'm not on the pill (confessing, in full, our method of 'birth control' would be almost too embarassing, even for *me*) It's odd though, it seems like he's more comfortable with the 'feel' of them than I am. There's no way to know which of us feels the difference more, but there seems to be this myth quietly perpetuated by the media that men are the only ones who feel less pleasure using condoms. Like my vagina can't tell the difference between skin and latex. It feels VERY different. And those studded/ribbed 'for her pleasure' things feel downright gross and unnatural to me.
I'm with Duck on this one. At my age, and my girlfriend's age - we'll both make sure that condoms are involved.
Although I'm virtually infertile (trust me, there are plenty of times I SHOULD HAVE gotten pregnant) due to a disease I have, we still use condoms. I hate them because of the feeling and smell of them, but until I got that ring slapped on my finger, I don't want the potential of any ooooops'
I can partially relate to what you`re saying. From what I understand, there are only two stds which are incurable. Herpes being basically an inconvenience that most people contract by non-sexual means in childhood anyway and remain asymptomatic, and HIV which is difficult to transmit, relatively rare, and diminishing in many parts of the world, including where I live. Even after contracting HIV, these days it would seem, one can lead a relatively normal life. A friend of mine did not even take his immunological cocktail for ten years (which, I am not recommending as much as using the example to make a point) and died of a stroke :biggrin:. In other words, it was not HIV that did him in. He also had a boyfriend for just as long, who never contracted the disease. I get the feeling that a lot of the alarmist propaganda about stds have to do with people`s attitudes toward sex and their own bodies, and how prudish or uptight they are. In other words, it says a lot more about them than some real danger. The above being said, I do use condoms and feel more comfortable doing so having casual sex (I`m somewhat of a hypochondriac) unless I can see the person`s std tests and know and trust (in the case of sex with a woman) that she is on the pill...Given the fact that I am very sexually active, but independent, I always carry condoms with me. I also think it`s essential to have sex without condoms in what I would consider appropriate situations, for both the intimacy aspect and for plain fun.
At the threat of declenching the polemics surround this subject , I'll say that I don't believe at all in the AIDS orthodoxy. I'm not denying the existence of HIV, after all they test for its antibody and that quantifiable. But I don't believe that HIV is either a new disease, transmitted by sexual contact, or that it causes the syndrome called AIDS. Everything I've ever read or seminar that my wife and I had attended concerning the subject of AIDS; comes across not as science, but as a work of legalese. As a lawyer, nothing sets off my warning bells more than something that appears to be a legal verbal word dance. And I've seen lots of examples of this in my career and it's always done to hide something important. Heck, I've read cases where R.J. Reynolds Tobacco (Camel Cigarettes) had the general public in the 30s believing smoking was a benefit to their health. And by the 40s in Alabama, they were trying to have parents that didn't promote smoking to children condemned of child abuse. The scary part was just how successful they were in duping the public, doctors and the legal system. So to sum it up, AIDS is a big bucks and it's in the top 10 international money making industries. My belief is they use the current attitudes about sex as a method of marketing. Considering I've seen alarmist commercials such as the one where a young couple has sex and then the male gets out of bed and shoots her in the head with a shotgun. This sort of publicity tells me that they are not interested in teaching or imparting information about a possible danger. They just want to generate fear and panic.
Enjoy your syphillis or is it no problemo to catch that since it's curable? lol i hate condoms like crazy but would never not use them unless i was in a serious relationship. I don't know how it is in the states but in Canada by law if you go to a doctor for treatment of STI you are required to submit a list of every single sexual partner you have ever had and you are required by criminal law to phone them and inform them that you have contracted that STI . . . or you go to jail and get a record. Who wants that mess? and herpes i'd only describe as an invonvenience if you have Herpes Simplex 1 aka "cold sores" . . . I wouldn't describe Herpes Simplex 2 "genital herpes" as an inconvenience, more like pretty devastating :\ syphillis can cause brain damage, these things aren't a joke . . . I think you'd be surprised how many STI cases a family doctor sees in a day.
Condoms should be free to anyone who wants one. It would solve a lot of problems since the pieces of rubber are so fucking expensive.
I've had ear infections, nose infections, throat infections, etc. Once I stepped on a nail and had an infection so bad they were considering cutting off my foot. Also when my son was a child, he got cauliflower ear with an infection. They checked him into the hospital as a precaution. It's because of the ear's location to the brain, there concern was that a bad ear infection could cause a stroke. So let me ask you why is contracting a Sexually Transmitted Disease is somehow the proverbial end of the world but all other types of infections appear to be acceptable? I take care of my body and I see my doctor regularly. I pay insurance for that privilege, so I might as well avail myself of the resource. My wife had a sore and was diagnosed as having syphilis and she had to take antibiotics for 2 weeks. Whereas my leg was several months and my sons ear was 10 days in the hospital plus antibiotics. The argument I'm making, There are diseases that are far worse than an STD and non appears to go into a hysterical panic about them.
I can vibe with the idea that certain industries benefit from sex alarmism. It`s just a matter of being specific as to whom and the wherefores. Meanwhile, it seems to me alarmism will reach people who are already looking for it some kind of way, ideologically. The kind of people I find sexy enough to bareback are of another ilk. :biggrin:
I think syphillis can cause brain damage if untreated, like many other things can cause subsequent damage if untreated. As for herpes, the disease is almost mystifying to me, because even though I know it is commonly separated between type 1 and 2, the more I research it the more they seem interchangeable. For one thing, I've read herpes outbreaks can occur in any part of your body. It would appear that certain strains of the virus (which, by calling it type 2 we are actually throwing many viruses into the same sack) tend to prosper in the genital area, and type 1 tends to prosper in the mouth. Type 2 is supposed to be stronger, and accompanied by flu-like symptoms since the flu and herpes virus, I think, are from related families. Though, those symptoms tend to diminish with each outbreak, assuming the infected person is symptomatic, or has repeated instances of outbreaks (which, isn`t the case very often). However, from what I understand, herpes type 1 and 2 may both develop in either the mouth or genitals, OR other parts of the body by non-sexual skin on skin contact or viral shedding when someone is asymptomatic, even. The treatment takes about 3 weeks, and then you`re good to go. Unlike the flu, you can probably still go to work during an outbreak, and unlike cold sores, they are less embarrassing. Granted one may get the boils, the pain, the blood, and everything else but in many instances the symptoms are supposed to be very mild. Over 50% of people in the world have herpes of some kind. The number I have read for what is commonly called genital herpes is 25%. If you`ve had sex with more than 4 people, chances are you`ve been exposed to it and developed anti-bodies against it, and it remains dormant in your body along with many other viruses, bacteria, etc. :biggrin: Condoms are also less effective against herpes than say, HIV. Although, I`ve heard from a doctor that one can have a little bit of the HIV virus without contracting the disease. In other words, it takes a lot of the HIV virus for it to pose a threat to your immunological system, and it is not uncommon for people to have some HIV in their blood samples. Don`t quote me on this, but I believe it was the information that I`ve got from informed sources. In other words, I do what I think is reasonable to avoid stds. But HSV is still non-fatal and we all carry the flu virus and many other viruses in us. The good new is, if you get genital herpes, you can still treat yourself and go surfing and kayaking and shit.