A few minutes of fun can make you wallow in pangs of regret forever. That thought-provoking statement often reminds us of the need to embrace safe sex practices. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, sex has psychological, physical, emotional, and social benefits. Conversely, it exposes people to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Because it exposes people to those diseases, Black folks embraced several safe sex theories to enjoy sex unhindered! The outcome, as you would guess, turned out disastrous!
In one report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that as of 2021, 50.5% of reported cases of STDs were among adolescents and young adults aged between 15 and 24 years. However, disparities continue to persist in rates of reported STDs among some racial minority or Hispanic ethnicity groups when compared with rates among non-Hispanic White persons. In 2021, 31% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and P&S syphilis were among people within the Black community, even though they made up only approximately 12% of the US population. Given the population of Blacks in the US, these STD rates are quite alarming. Well, one can partly attribute its cause to specific safe sex myths. So, in this article, I will walk you through 10 safe sex myths within the Black community.
10 Safe Sex Myths Within the Black Community
- Oral sex is safe: If you still believe that oral sex is safe, I am here to burst your bubble—it is not! Let me be fair—you won’t get pregnant through it, but you can contract sexually transmitted diseases through it.
- Birth control pills keep you safe from STDs: If you believe that, you will believe anything! As their names suggest, those pills prevent you from having babies, not stop you from catching diseases.
- STDs are only for people who have multiple sex partners: Admittedly, having multiple sex partners increases your odds of contracting STDs. However, you can catch the disease through one-time unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person. In short, stats indicate that by age 25, one in two sexually active people will have an STD. Surprisingly enough, they don’t even know that they have it.
- Two condoms are better than one: Yes, this delusion has gone on for a while now, but it is not necessarily true. That’s because one condom gets the job done perfectly.
- A quick bath after sex reduces the odds of contracting HIV: Well, this misbelief went viral after an ex-president disclosed it. His people tied it to their cultural belief. Take it from me, this is totally false!
- Peeing after sex prevents STDs: If you believe this, you are playing with fire! Fire, as you know, burns those who play with it! That, once again, is false!
- I should be able to tell if my partner has STDs: Well, this is partly true because STDs have specific symptoms. However, you cannot tell if your partner has STDs without them going for relevant tests because some STDs don’t show these symptoms in their early stages.
- LGBTs don’t contract STDs: If you believe that fallacy, I am here to debunk it because gay men and lesbians are as vulnerable to STDs as straight people. In a nutshell, your sexual orientation doesn’t protect you from those diseases.
- Condoms can be washed and reused: This sounds like something some people tell themselves if they care so much about preventing pregnancies and diseases but have suddenly run out of condoms in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately, it is untrue because condoms are only effective once. Friction during sex reduces its effectiveness.
- Plastic bags can take the place of condoms: No, this is not true because condoms are designed to catch sperm and keep users safe from pregnancies and infections, but plastic bags are not.
In this concise but informative piece, I have shared with you 10 safe sex myths that are common among Blacks. Whether you are male or female, gay or straight, many people continue to accept these misconceptions as truths. To make matters worse, these misconceptions about sexual health persistently misguide the youth, especially within the Black community. In turn, these misconceptions are followed into adulthood. Therefore, Elevate Black Health strongly advises that you abstain from sex or use a condom to enjoy smart, safe sex to the fullest.
For further readings, visit:
https://www.cdc.gov/std/statistics/2021/overview.htm
https://cycles.app/articles/sex-relationships/the-most-common-sex-myths
https://www.thesource.org/post/10-myths-we-believed-about-sex https://www.fcionline.com/article/sex-myths-debunked-when-trying-to-conceive/
