Rise of STDs Leads to Re-Visiting a 25-Year-Old Unsuccessful Safer Sex Project
The May 7, 2018, LA Times article by Soumya Karlamangla entitled “STDs in L.A. County are skyrocketing. Officials think racism and stigma may be to blame” includes this alarming information (boldface mine):
Nationwide, STD rates have been climbing for the past five years. More people were diagnosed with syphilis, chlamydia or gonorrhea in 2016 than ever before.
Some blame underfunding of STD prevention programs, as well as falling condom usage. There’s also speculation that people are having sex with more partners because of hookup apps.
But the picture is more complicated when it comes to the high STD rates among minorities. Gay and bisexual men make up the vast majority of new syphilis cases. In L.A. County, syphilis rates among African American women are six times higher than white women and three times higher than Latina women.
Reading this article, I was once again upset that my safer sex initiative of 25 years ago failed. At that time I tried to interest the entertainment community in routine safer sex inclusion in movies and TV with sex scenes. This initiative was partly inspired by the entertainment community’s embrace of safety belt (seat belt) inclusion in movies and TV with car scenes.
On June 22, 1993, Lori Wolfe, MSW, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Risk Reduction Program wrote a letter on my initiative’s behalf that began:
To the Entertainment Community:
Young people in the community are avid viewers of all forms of entertainment media and are impacted significantly by what they see. The entertainment community has a tremendous opportunity to educate these young people about the issue of safer sex through various product placement techniques.
Some of the young people in our clinic were infected with HIV after having sex with a single partner. If they had seen a positive portrayal of safer sex in TV programs or films this could have significantly impacted their risky behaviors. If young people see condoms portrayed in the media on a regular basis, it may become imprinted on their minds to use them consistently.
The message that the entertainment community sends out is a message that young people may take home with them to their bedrooms. This is an opportunity to both educate about the topic of safer sex and to help prevent the further spread of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases.
To clarify, I am NOT advocating explicit scenes of opening a condom package and putting on the condom. I am advocating including some indication that safer sex is being practiced.
I explain this viewpoint in my October 1993 Writers Guild Journal article “The ‘C’ Word,” which says in part:
Now, of course, the first reaction I get when I broach safer sex portrayal to someone in the entertainment industry is often, “You mean you’re going to show the condom being put on?”
No, that’s not necessary. There are many ways to get the safer sex message across without graphic exposure. A condom box can be on the bedside table; a man can offer, or a woman can ask if he’ll use “protection”; a discussion beforehand can explain that the person always uses a condom. We’re used to movies not showing everything — we’ll get the point if condoms are mentioned without seeing every last detail.
Another response I’ve gotten is, “Showing a couple stopping to put on a condom interrupts the sensual mood of the movie.” But the camera doesn’t have to stop to get a safer sex message across. And if it does stop, so what? Can writers, directors and actors actually say the “perfect” sex scene is more important then the responsibility of giving the false message that unprotected sex is okay — that is is not life-threatening”?
The truth is that, although I failed 25 years ago to engage the entertainment industry to include safer sex in sex scenes, I have continued to advocate safer sex in my own writing. In fact, in my near future sci fi universe, condoms are green and, when pulled on, these turn red if something is interfering with the effectiveness of the condom.
Perhaps the LA County’s Department of Public Health, as it is situated in the center of a world-wide entertainment industry, will 25 years after my attempt to initiate a safer sex media initiative now embrace this project. Given the dramatic increase since 1993 in the amount of media consumed daily by people of all ages as well as the skyrocketing rise in STDs, this initiative could be even more effective now than 25 years ago in encouraging safer sex.
UPDATE: I’m starting a #SaferSexInFiction campaign on Twitter to encourage sharing of positive #condom usage mentions in #fiction (books and films/TV). Join me there and share your favorite examples to help combat the skyrocketing increase in STDs!
Email me at pzmiller@gmail.com if you’d like to weigh in on this issue.
Click here to read the entire LA Times article on the rise of STDs.
Related posts on fictional representation of important issues:
Click here to read post SAFER SEX PRACTICES STILL NEED REINFORCEMENT IN TV AND MOVIES.
Click here to read post FICTIONAL PORTRAYALS IMPACT MORE THAN GENDER AND DIVERSITY ISSUES.
© 2018 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks. Phyllis is available by skype for book group discussions and may be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com
Her Kindle fiction ebooks may be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller — and her Kindle nonfiction ebooks may also be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller