(no subject)
This came up tonight, and I ended up upsetting the person I was talking to because I am so very excitable about the incredible dangers rampant in the subject, but I really need to share some basic information that people, especially those in my immediate age group, apparently don't know.
1. Don't have sex with strangers. In the 18-25 age range, 1 in 2 people has an STI. That's anything from HPV, which is symptomless but leads to infertility and cervical cancer, to syphilis to AIDS.
2. Don't have sex with people who have had sex with strangers. Sex is a chain; having sex with someone is literally like having sex with everyone else they've had sex with. Your significant other had a super grody former significant other? Yeah, that grody person's grodiness is now all over your genitals.
3. Don't double-bag with condoms. Latex + latex = ripped latex, which = pregnancy and STIs. Latex + penis = 99% effective protection.
4. Don't have sex with people who double-bag with condoms. Same reasons as to not have sex with strangers, but now they've got a chance of being diseased even if they really did "use a condom every time." Using a condom WRONG every time is no better than not using a condom.
5. Don't have sex with people who say they don't have any STIs but have never been tested. Lots of STIs are completely without symptoms, and people can be carriers without having any idea. Or they could be lying. A man who knowingly had unprotected sex with six women after he KNEW he had AIDS was just charged with 6 counts of "aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," and is now serving 75 years in jail. Yeah, it is That Fucking Serious.
The reason I care so much is because my mom had cancer from exactly this. HPV has absolutely no effects on men, but when it gets into a woman's body pretty much starts a playground in her uterus. It can ruin your chance of EVER having children, and if it leads to cancer, that cancer can metastize without a sign and you can die. My mom is alive because I know about this stuff, and I nagged her to go to the doctor for a straight year. They caught it at the last stage before it would have begun to eat the rest of her body.
Basically... I apologize if I ever ram this shit down your throat, but as secretary for Voice for Planned Parenthood and also an almost-momless person, I feel like I have a duty to make people really understand this. I'm not saying that If You Have Sex You Will Get Pregnant And Die, but you really, really have to be careful; every single time.
Here. I do this because I love you.
1. Don't have sex with strangers. In the 18-25 age range, 1 in 2 people has an STI. That's anything from HPV, which is symptomless but leads to infertility and cervical cancer, to syphilis to AIDS.
2. Don't have sex with people who have had sex with strangers. Sex is a chain; having sex with someone is literally like having sex with everyone else they've had sex with. Your significant other had a super grody former significant other? Yeah, that grody person's grodiness is now all over your genitals.
3. Don't double-bag with condoms. Latex + latex = ripped latex, which = pregnancy and STIs. Latex + penis = 99% effective protection.
4. Don't have sex with people who double-bag with condoms. Same reasons as to not have sex with strangers, but now they've got a chance of being diseased even if they really did "use a condom every time." Using a condom WRONG every time is no better than not using a condom.
5. Don't have sex with people who say they don't have any STIs but have never been tested. Lots of STIs are completely without symptoms, and people can be carriers without having any idea. Or they could be lying. A man who knowingly had unprotected sex with six women after he KNEW he had AIDS was just charged with 6 counts of "aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," and is now serving 75 years in jail. Yeah, it is That Fucking Serious.
The reason I care so much is because my mom had cancer from exactly this. HPV has absolutely no effects on men, but when it gets into a woman's body pretty much starts a playground in her uterus. It can ruin your chance of EVER having children, and if it leads to cancer, that cancer can metastize without a sign and you can die. My mom is alive because I know about this stuff, and I nagged her to go to the doctor for a straight year. They caught it at the last stage before it would have begun to eat the rest of her body.
Basically... I apologize if I ever ram this shit down your throat, but as secretary for Voice for Planned Parenthood and also an almost-momless person, I feel like I have a duty to make people really understand this. I'm not saying that If You Have Sex You Will Get Pregnant And Die, but you really, really have to be careful; every single time.
Here. I do this because I love you.