Posts Tagged ‘STD’

I think that when some people think about safe sex, they think this means boring sex.

NOT TRUE!  When you know that you’re at very low risk of contracting an STI, becoming pregnant, you feel safe and assured with your partner.  When you know that you can stop a sex act when you feel uncomfortable, that makes you feel more relaxed. When you feel comfortable, relaxed, and safe with someone, you can have better sex because you feel respected.

There are two things that you need to have before you have sex.  The first, knowledge about sex; the second, the self respect and confidence to say what kind of sex you want to have, or feel ready to have, with someone.

When you have all of the tools to make educated decisions about your health, you can choose what risks to participate in, and what precautions you need to take. When you respect yourself enough to to say what you want and don’t want during sex, you’re putting yourself first. So ask yourself if you know: how to put on a male and female condom, all the ways sexually transmitted infections are transmitted to another person, how a pregnancy can occur, how a dental dam works, what emergency contraception is used for, etc. If you have a question, go to our website www.plannedparenthood.org or make an appointment. Knowledge is power.

There are countless reasons why comprehensive sex education is necessary for everyone to learn before they engage in sex (that’s another blog post), but self confidence and respect are sometimes the hardest things I see women and girls struggling with.  I’ve said in previous blog posts that in order for women to achieve healthy sexual and reproductive lives, they must communicate with their partners and doctors.  During medical visits, I hear most women talk more about every other person’s expectations of them than they do their own.  Women juggle a multitude of things in their lives: school work, jobs, family obligations, children, friends and partners. Sometime it’s easy to lose yourself in all of this and forget about what’s the most important: you.

I’m not saying that these people and obligations are not important, but in order for women to have happy and healthy lives they must know their boundaries.  And this goes for men too. Your emotional and physical health has to be in shape, before you conquer the other parts of your life successfully.

So before you have sex, you need to know what sex acts you’re comfortable doing with your partner, and how to keep it safe.  Sure, this might change during time, but it needs to be on your time.  You might be comfortable doing a sex act now, that you weren’t in the past and vice versa. Only you know what you’re comfortable with.   Take time to think about what you want, recognize your feelings, and don’t let someone else decide them for you.

My son started kindergarten the year I started working for Planned Parenthood. Ten years later and he’s a freshmen in high school. I’ve had a decade of learning about how to be an “askable” parent from Planned Parenthood and yet, like most fathers, I’m still feeling my way through tough conversations. Every “talk” doesn’t work like magic but sometimes I hit just the right button to keep my teenage son talking. 

Just a few weeks ago my son and I were painting the house and he says, “you know Syd[fellow student, name changed to protect the guilty] is just so crazy.”  I thought great, here’s my chance.  ”oh yeah?”

Turns out Syd is boasting to all his schoolmates about his numerous girlfriends and his experiences.  My son tells me that he and his friends have voted Syd as “Most Likely to Contract an STD.”  

I asked him if other friends were having sex or talking about it? I kept it light and humorous but made sure to tell him,” you know most kids aren’t having sex and some folks are not necessarily honest about that” and “maybe, just maybe Syd hasn’t done all those things he says he has.”

I even asked him if he thought Syd uses condoms.  ”Probably not.”  I told him he and his friends might be right about Syd and the STD as 1 in 4 teen girls has an STD.

You most likely haven’t thought of earning a badge since your girl scout or boy scout days.

Unless of course, you use foursquare-a service where you earn points and badges by sharing your location with friends.

This week MTV and Foursquare announced they will be introducing a badge that will encourage people to check-in when they get tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

This new partnership builds upon the long running campaign, GYT- Get Yourself Tested, which is a collaborative effort by MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

What is GYT? GYT is about creating a youthful, empowering social movement around getting tested for STDs.  GYT presents testing as an act of pride, not shame- promoting open communication about STDs and encouraging your people to ask to be tested.

The GYT badge, why and how do you get it:
First the why: 1) you’re a social networking star with as many friends, followers, fans, etc as Robert Patterson,  2) you’re a reproductive rights advocate who thinks, “Of course, everyone should get tested, duh!!!” and 3) you want to win a trip for two to NYC to watch a taping of MTV’s “10 on top.”

Ok, now for the how: 1)sign up for foursquare on your smartphone. (doesn’t work without a smartphone, maybe that should be number 1,)  2) follow MTV on foursquare,  3) head to a local testing center and then check in on foursquare (you can text your zipcode to GYTNOW to get the location of the nearest testing center.)

how do you feel about foursquare in general and particularly around STD testing?  Check out Digits blog on the subject.  I’m thinking this pushes the envelope.