Casual sex is all the rage – but so is an increasing aversion to condoms. Have we really learned nothing?
After all the infomercials, all the statistics, all the work NGOs and other agencies put into getting people to use condoms in a country and continent that has been ravaged by HIV-Aids, we’re back to square one.
And oh, the excuses are all so convincing. “I’m allergic to latex”, “I can’t get it up when I wear a condom” and “Don’t you trust me?” But fast forward to the moment right after the act, and the problems begin. The fear, paranoia, regrets… That and the person who was so convincing just a few moments ago is now getting dressed and ready to leave in a huff.
Too afraid to go for testing, you wait for some sign of something amiss – a missed period or onset of sickness. Bitterness and need for retribution follow. And if you manage to come through the ordeal unscathed, your air of invincibility leads you back to the beginning of this harrowing and unnecessary cycle.
Who can forget the recent Kenyan adverts calling for married people to use condoms with their Mpango wa Kandos (side girls and guys)? So many problems with this. One, we’ve gotten to the point where infidelity has been accepted as normal. Two, people in marriages seem to be putting their partners at risk by not using condoms. The number of new HIV infections in marriages has been rising consistently and alarmingly. Who tells her husband or his wife to use a condom?
A wise person said: “Some of you are trusting people with your lives that you wouldn’t trust with your house keys.”
This attitude towards condoms is a sign of the times. Adults don’t want to be adults anymore, and are making juvenile mistakes in the heat of the moment. It’s time to grow up. So pick up that pack of condoms and use them. They may just save your life.