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Intelligent and Responsible Sexual Behavior
http://www.hal-pc.org/~wtb/sex.html
Introduction. This page
exists to promote rational sexual behavior. The need for such
behavior is especially important today with the presence of the
HIV virus and AIDS, which can be fatal. Furthermore, some
sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are incurable (HIV,
hepatitis C, and herpes are cases in point). You get one of
those diseases and your life is forever changed. This page
contains info that I would want my children to know, but it is
designed tastefully for young and old alike. The main source of
info is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This page, which educates and advises, addresses the following
topics:
1.
Celebrities and STDs,
2.
A Partial List of STDs,
3.
Modes of Transmission,
4.
Kissing and STDs,
5.
Oral Sex and STDs,
6.
Condoms and STDs,
7.
Swinging and the Swingers' Lifestyle,
8.
Today's Dilemmas, and
9.
A Final Thought.
Celebrities and STDs. Have
you heard of any of the following celebrities, all of whom have
something in common (besides being dead men)?
1.
Rock Hudson (1925-1985), actor and star of many movies
including Giant, which co-starred Elizabeth Taylor and James
Dean.
2.
Perry Ellis (1940–1986), fashion designer. These days,
Perry Ellis is the fifth largest men’s designer brand in the U.
S. with retail sales of over $1 billion annually,
3.
Arthur Ashe (1944-1993), the only black man to have won
Wimbledon (in 1975), the world's most prestigious grass-court
tennis tournament.
The commonality is that all
3 celebrities died of AIDS--one of several STDs. Hudson and
Ellis reportedly were gay; Ashe was not. Ashe is believed to
have contracted the HIV virus from a blood transfusion he
received during heart bypass surgery in 1983.
A Partial List of STDs.
Let's begin by listing some important STDs. Each item on the
following list links to a section of the CDC's web site, which
provides info on the disease. The diseases in alphabetical order
are:
Modes of Transmission. Per
the CDC, 2 main modes of STD transmission exist. Those 2 modes
(1-a and 2 on the following list) may be the main ones, but they
are not the only modes, for they do not mention transmission
thru contaminated blood. The following list includes all 3
modes:
1.
Body fluids
a.
HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis (the
discharge diseases) are transmitted when infected semen or
vaginal fluids contact mucosal surfaces (e.g., the male
urethra, the vagina, or cervix).
b.
Contaminated blood.
HIV and hepatitis are transmissible thru contaminated blood. The
contamination may occur thru sex, a needle piercing one's skin
(e.g., drug users sharing needles, getting a tattoo or a shot of
medicine with a contaminated needle, etc.), and in other ways.
2.
Genital ulcer diseases (genital herpes, syphilis, and
chancroid) and human papillomavirus are mainly transmitted
through contact with infected skin or mucosal surfaces.
As regards the transmission of genital herpes, the CDC says,
"Transmission can occur from an infected partner who does not
have a visible sore and may not know that he or she is
infected."
Kissing and STDs
1.
HIV.
Per the CDC, "Open-mouth kissing is considered a very low-risk
activity for the transmission of HIV. However, prolonged
open-mouth kissing could damage the mouth or lips and allow HIV
to pass from an infected person to a partner and then enter the
body through cuts or sores in the mouth. Because of this
possible risk, the CDC recommends against open-mouth kissing
with an infected partner. One case suggests that a woman became
infected with HIV from her sex partner through exposure to
contaminated blood during open-mouth kissing."
2.
Syphilis.
Per the CDC, "Syphilis is passed from person to person through
direct contact with a syphilis sore. Sores occur mainly on the
external genitals, vagina, anus, or in the rectum. Sores also
can occur on the lips and in the mouth." My conclusion: Kissing
can transmit syphilis.
3.
Herpes.
Per the CDC, each of 2 herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2)
can cause genital herpes. "HSV-1 can cause genital herpes, but
it more commonly causes infections of the mouth and lips,
so-called 'fever blisters.'" "HSV-1 and HSV-2 can be found in
and released from the sores that the viruses cause, but they
also are released between outbreaks from skin that does not
appear to be broken or to have a sore." My conclusion: Kissing
can transmit the HSV-1 virus.
4.
Hepatitis
B.
One site says, "It is possible to get herpes (cold sores),
syphilis and hepatitis B from deep kissing someone who has these
infections." The CDC disagrees re Hepatitis B. In this regard,
it says, "Hepatitis B is not spread through food or
water, sharing eating utensils, breastfeeding, hugging,
kissing, coughing, sneezing or by casual contact."
Oral Sex and STDs
1.
HIV.
Can one get HIV from oral sex? The CDC says, "Yes, it is
possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through
performing or receiving oral sex." It also says, "Numerous
studies have demonstrated that oral sex can result in the
transmission of HIV and other STDs." For more info on this
topic, click
here and
here.
2.
Syphilis
a.
Per the STD/HIV Prevention and Care Program of the
Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), syphilis is
transmissible thru oral sex. For more info on this topic,
click
here.
b.
Per the CDC, "Transmission of the [syphilis] organism
occurs during vaginal, anal, or oral sex."
3.
Herpes.
Per the CDC, "HSV-1 infection of the genitals can be caused by
oral-genital or genital-genital contact with a person who has
HSV-1 infection."
Condoms and STDs
1.
Per the CDC
a.
"Condoms are not always effective in preventing
STD."
b.
"Proper use of condoms with each act of sexual
intercourse can reduce, but not eliminate, risk of STD."
c.
"Individuals likely to become infected or known to be
infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) should be aware
that condom use cannot completely eliminate the risk of
transmission to themselves or to others."
2.
Per yours truly and the CDC
a.
One reason that condoms are not always effective in
preventing STD is that they may fail (break). In this regard,
the CDC says, "FDA criteria and the industry acceptable quality
level (AQL) for condoms specify that, in any given batch, the
failure rate due to water leakage cannot exceed four condoms per
thousand. Batches exceeding the specified rejection criteria are
recalled or barred from sale. Among batches of condoms that have
met the AQL, the average failure rate observed was 2.3/1,000."
Two point three is NOT zero!!! Has any company ever
mass-produced a product that is 100% defect free?
b.
Another reason is that not all condoms are made of the
same material. Some are made of latex; others are made of other
material. In this regard, the CDC says, "Latex condoms blocked
passage of HBV and HIV in laboratory studies, but natural
membrane condoms (made from lamb cecum), which contain small
pores, did not."
Swinging and the Swingers'
Lifestyle. The term "swinging" denotes a set of non-monogamous
sexual activities, and a "swinger" is one who engages in such
activities. For example, couples (married or merely attached)
who swap partners with other couples are swingers. So are
couples who invite a third person to join their sexual activity.
It may be 2 males and a female (MFM) or 2 females and a male
(FMF). Sometimes the male and female members of a couple engage
in solo sexual activity with someone other than their
significant other (SO). If such solo activity is done with the
SO's knowledge and consent, then it is considered "swinging;"
otherwise, it is considered "cheating." Swingers distinguish
between love and sex. To them, sex with someone other than their
SO is no big deal; it's "just sex."
Several web sites are
devoted to swingers and their lifestyle. Those sites typically
have message boards with forums where members can post
questions, answers, commentary, etc. on a range of topics.
People all over the world post on these message boards, and they
openly (but anonymously) discuss their sexual activities. To
follow are my thoughts about Swinging and the Swingers'
Lifestyle, and the thoughts are not religiously motivated:
1.
All
swingers are flirting with disaster.
The chances of contracting a STD are far too great to engage in
such behavior, and the risk increases with each encounter.
2.
How much is your peace of mind worth to you? Mine is
worth everything to me. I do not want to wonder if I contracted
some STD. I want to think about other things (my work, my golf
swing, my family, etc.).
3.
Swingers seem to think that condoms protect them, but as
stated supra, condoms are NOT 100% effective. A swinger
recently learned this lesson the hard way. To follow is a
message posted on 03-04-2006 on a swinger message board:
My wife
and I have been swinging the past few years together. We both
get tested yearly for any diseases. I just found out I
contracted HIV. We have always used condoms with others. How
could this happen? Well, I talked to my doctor for sometime
regarding the results. It seems condoms aren't as safe as we'd
like to believe. My doctor said the nature of the material does
not stop all viruses. Latex is porous! My wife always asked if
the couples were d & d free too. Every couple replied yes. I
guess you never really know unless you see the blood work (they
might not even know). I've got to break the news to my wife
soon....
Chances are that he has had sex with his wife since he became
infected; so she probably is infected now too. To that fellow I
say, "Was it worth it?
4.
Some of those who post on swingers' message boards are
perverts--pure and simple.
5.
Many of the posts describe sexual behavior that is simply
disgusting. Example: Some of the men say that they can't wait to
see 2, 3, or 4 (or more) men servicing their wife!!! And believe
it or not, some of the women say that they enjoy such activity.
6.
A married female poster told of meeting a man at a
cocktail party and having unprotected sex with him that evening.
She then went home and had intercourse with her husband. She got
pregnant that night, and now she wonders which man sired her
child. [Some knowledge of genetics might help her here. Blue
eyes are recessive, and recessives breed true. Ergo, if she and
her husband have blue eyes but the child does not, then her
husband is not the child's father.]
7.
I regard such sites as the internet's version of a
garbage dump. To find trash, just consult one of those sites.
I'm not saying that every post or poster there is trash, but
many are.
Today's Dilemmas
1.
Suppose a man meets a woman who looks like Salma Hayek
(or Catherine Zeta Jones). The woman says, "My roommate is out
of town this week. Why don't you come over tonight and keep me
company?" The man accepts the invitation, the chemistry is
right, one thing leads to another (you know how it goes), and
the woman wants SEX. What should the man do? IMO, he should
resist temptation. To do otherwise is to risk one's life!
There is no telling who her sex partner was last night!!
2.
If one wants to meet "the right person," then how should
one go about it? It almost goes without saying that a swingers'
web site (or any other sex-oriented site) is the wrong place
to look. If one searches thru a garbage dump, one can expect to
find trash. One MIGHT find a 10-carat diamond amidst the trash,
but that outcome is HIGHLY UNLIKELY. If one wants to find a gem,
then look where gems are likely to be found.
3.
Suppose one meets an attractive member of the opposite
sex. How should one proceed sexually? IMO, one should refrain
from sex until one knows the other person's values. If that
person's values are such that sleeping with Tom, Dick, and Harry
is OK, then the relationship should end; otherwise, it should
continue. Only when one is comfortable with the other person's
values should one consider sex with that person. And then one
should not do so until both persons have been tested for STDs.
This procedure is not foolproof, but the only foolproof
procedure seems to be abstinence forever (and I can't wait
that long!), which would end the human species.
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