Stories, sex, and your health

If you spend enough time reading sexually explicit stories, you will note that a lot of people have a lot of sex with a lot of other people and that the sex is usually casual, and very often unprotected. Some authors will go out of their way to post a warning that this sort of casual sex only exists in stories or that a responsible adult does not engage in this sort of thing, etc.

And they are correct.

These stories are fantasies. They exist in a world where disease does not exist, unless it happens to be part of the story. Why? There are any number of reasons. It distracts from the story is a common reason. For the same reason we authors do not cover all the more mundane aspects of human relations, again unless it adds to the story. Sex is messy. It gets even more messy when you add lubricants and multiple orgasms from multiple partners, and if they squirt, well, you better have towels or something similar or you will wish you had. Yet we, as authors, do not talk about the cleanup. Washing sheets, airing mattresses, replacing items that are unsalvageable. It distracts and it does not add to the story.

The same is true with safe sex. In 2016, it is more important than ever to be practicing safe sex. This is more than protecting against pregnancy, which can ruin more lives than a bad case of syphilis. Do not mistake me. I am all for children, when they are wanted and loved. But I have seen them ruin lives when they are not. Safe sex is also about disease protection. From herpes and gonorrhea, to syphilis, the old standbys are still with us. HIV/AIDS may not be getting the press it used to, but it is still as prevelent today as it was in the 1980s, 90s, and at the turn of the century and it is still just as life altering. And while we talk about these, there are numerous other diseases that can be transmitted by sex that are just as bad. The new contender is Zika. And reports are that not only can it be transmitted by sex, it can still mutate fetuses as they develop. Think about that for a moment the next time you hop in the sack.

What do you do? Ensure you are clean and your partner is too. Insist on a medical work up. Most public health service clinics will do this for a nominal charge and it is anonymous. Wear condoms and insist your partner wear them. Ladies, talk to your OB/GYN about options. There are so many ways to prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs that it should be part of our sexual repitoir. Oh, and one more thing guys, do not double dip. Fecal material in the vagina can lead to a lot of complications, least of which is going without sex while she recovers.

Let’s all be safe out there.

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