'outlook: HOT and STICKY'
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Summer has come and gone, with its skimpy clothes and
(for some!) golden tans. This is seriously bad news for my friends who
rely on their well-formed six packs working better than any chat-up lines
known to man.
So we can all go back to our normal lives and stop thinking about sex,
eh? No chance.
I was talking to a friend the other day about London's HIV statistics.
They just keep rising. At first glance it may seem that prevention campaigns
are not working.
Why? Is it that people are not aware of the risks associated with HIV?
Or is it that they become aware when it's too late?
I don't think so. Most people who have unprotected sex know what they
are getting into. After all, women have known about pregnancy since sex
began. A lady knows that when a few million sperm swim up her uterus,
one lucky fellow will get hooked to an egg. The next stage is finding
a childminder...
Yet women still go ahead and have sex without contraception.
As for men, there have always been other STIs. Yet many men tell me they
got infected when they were well aware of the risks involved.
When it comes to HIV, it's a different and more difficult ball game, at
least till scientists come up with an effective substitute for condoms
which one partner can use without the other knowing.
So for some time to come, we will still have to rely on good old-fashioned
communication to prevent infections. Save for rape, sex is a two-way act.
When one says, "We can't do it without a condom", their word
should stand. It rarely does.
In some cases, both partners decide to compromise on risk. After using
condoms for three months, they suddenly wake up one morning in the morning
mood, look each other in the face - and get on with it without a condom.
Several times I have heard both women and men saying that sex with a condom is not real.
