Let's Talk About (Unprotected) Sex

30 Jul 2009
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In today’s CollegeCandy column, I write about the importance of discussing sexual exclusivity prior to forgoing condoms. I say “prior” because it’s not uncommon for people to have discussions only after the fact, meaning after they ditch the rubber in the spur of the moment or during a drunken game of Just The Tip. Props to Rachel Hills, whose article on unprotected sex served as inspiration for my column.

Writing about the risks of condomless sex made me think about the risks of intercourse in general. Even with consistent condom use, you’re not 100 percent safe (and given efficacy rates of “typical usage” which takes into account human error, that figure is probably closer to 90 percent). The biggest risk women run regardless of how safe they try to be? The human papillomavirus, more commonly known as HPV.

Condoms don’t completely eliminate the risk of HPV, and men don’t show symptoms of HPV, nor is it considered medically necessary to test them for it. In women, however, certain strains of the virus can cause cervical cancer, and HPV is so common that nearly 80 percent of sexually active American women will contract it at some point in their lives, which is why annual pap smears should be a rule of thumb.

Besides what you can do for yourself, you should also honestly discuss with your partner your curent and past sexual history. If both of you are virgins or have only had sex with virgins, then you’re probably in the clear (assuming you haven’t picked up anything via other practices like oral sex). But if you’re not each other’s firsts or if you anticipate colorful sexual adventures in your future, then you should get vaccinnated against the strains of HPV known to cause cancer. (Many university health centers subsidize the vaccine, though Harvard ended its program this summer.)

As sex-positive as I am, there’s no denying that there’s no foolproof safeguard against STIs. Of course, people do plenty of things that are much worse for their health than sex (smoking, drinking, eating red meat, to name a few). So with that in mind, go ahead and pursue bodily pleasures, but don’t assume your reproductive organs are invicible.