Posts Tagged STDs

Porn, Condoms, Feminism, and other internal conflicts

Many people who know me, know that I love (some) porn. And not just to get off. I’m the kind of girl who will curl up with a bag of popcorn and watch porn with friends. But that doesn’t negate the fact that like many feminists, I have some issues. There is a discourse to be had around the kind of public sex people have; and as always, a critical analysis is always key.

It is not a secret that many feminists have pointed out the “woman problem” within the porn industry. The images depicted in mainstream porn have become more and more hostile towards women. When you examine the role of women of color in the porn industry, it gets worse ...

Many people who know me, know that I love (some) porn. And not just to get off. I’m the kind of girl who will curl up with a bag of popcorn and watch porn with friends. But ...

It’s STD Awareness Month: Get Yourself Tested!

April is National STD Awareness Month, which means it’s also the fifth annual GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign. 1 in 2 sexually active people will get an STD by the age of 25, and most won’t know it.

So getting tested is super important. And it’s something that you kinda have to take responsibility for yourself. I think most people don’t realize that you need to speak up and ask to be tested and for what–you can’t just assume that your doctor will test for everything as a matter of course. I was reminded of this just recently when I had a herpes scare (false alarm, PHEW!) I was also reminded that even though clinics like Planned Parenthood do offer relatively inexpensive testing ...

April is National STD Awareness Month, which means it’s also the fifth annual GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign. 1 in 2 sexually active people will get an STD by the age of 25, and most won’t know ...

I Had HPV and Lived to Tell the Tale

As a follow-up from Maya’s post yesterday and for #HPVDay today, this is a guest post by Bryce Covert, a writer and editor who works on feminism, economic equality, and progressive politics. You can find her work here.

I was 24 when I found out that my health insurance would cover the full cost of getting three shots of Gardasil, the newly released HPV vaccine. I signed up immediately — but I was already too late.

I started a monogamous relationship with a boy who thought he was clean of STDs in January of 2008. In March, I had my third and final Gardasil shot. By June we had broken up, and it wasn’t ...

As a follow-up from Maya’s post yesterday and for #HPVDay today, this is a guest post by Bryce Covert, a writer and editor who works on feminism, economic equality, and progressive politics. ...

Fight sex-negativity by tweeting that you’ve had HPV tomorrow

Courtney mentioned the “so-called Ayelet Waldman overshare” yesterday, but I think it deserves its own post because I agree so hard with Jill that this is why we are losing as a culture.

To recap: After Michele Bachmann made ridiculous and patently false claims about the HPV vaccine in an effort to score political points against Rick Perry, writer Ayelet Waldman, wife of novelist Michael Chabon, took to Twitter to say that she’d gotten HPV from her husband and remind all those sex-panicked conservatives why exactly the HPV vaccine is important. The news that a woman had HPV and is willing to say so on Twitter was somehow deemed news-worthy. And folks on Twitter responded ...

Courtney mentioned the “so-called Ayelet Waldman overshare” yesterday, but I think it deserves its own post because I agree so hard with Jill that this is why we are losing as a culture.

To recap: After ...

New study on young people and STDs shows how sex negativity is detrimental to your health

A new study, released early this week, found that 10% of young people who tested positive for one of three common STDs—chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis—claimed they had abstained from sex (defined as vaginal intercourse) in the last 12 months.

Although the researchers do point out that some of the youth could have simply forgotten they’d had sex, or contracted the infection more than a year ago, or engaged in other kinds of sexual activities that could transmit STDs, their conclusion is that teens and young adults’ self-reported sexual histories are not to be trusted. And so doctors should screen all youth for STDs to be safe.

And while I’m all for more STD testing, I agree with Cara at the ...

A new study, released early this week, found that 10% of young people who tested positive for one of three common STDs—chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis—claimed they had abstained from sex (defined as vaginal intercourse) in the ...