Condoms Suck

There have been enormous benefits from antiretroviral therapy, including pre-exposure protection to HIV. Countless lives depend upon that, and we must continue efforts to develop an HIV-prevention vaccine, to implement widespread male circumcision, and to do everything we can to stop the spread of AIDS. But those efforts also must include putting a new, improved, kick-ass condom on the same biomedical fast track as the other stuff.

Feeling glad that you don't live in the days of leather condoms? Quit feeling smug and start imagining a future in which you feel grateful to have escaped the days of wired phones, compact discs and latex condoms. There's too much complacency around the suckiness of this Stone Age bullshit. Where is our Steve Jobs of condoms? Where is our visionary, who sees a way out of this rubber prison?

Details

Are you a bigger guy needing help finding a condom? Check out"10 Condom Reviews for the Well-Endowed Man,"

Related Content

• Safety in Rubbers
  February 16, 2012
• Condoms Still Suck, No Matter What Joycelyn Elders Thinks (She's on Trojan's Payroll)
  March 15, 2012
• A Cancer on the Office
  April 26, 2012
• A Woman Who Paints Pictures of Penises
  February 8, 2012
• Blackjack With Pedophiles: Why Gambling on Our Ability to Stop Sex Offenders Isn't the Way to Go
  April 19, 2012

More About

• Paul Abramson
• University of California-Los Angeles
• L.J. Williamson
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Sexual and Reproductive Health

Like this Story?

Get the Arts Newsletter: Get the latest news and offers from the LA art scene sent directly to your email address. Exclusive events and art related sales you won't hear about anywhere else!

Make sign up easy with:

A few efforts at innovation have been made. The female condom never gained traction. A microbicidal gel known as the "invisible condom" has yet to become visible. A spray-on condom was abandoned due to technical difficulties. Apple tried to make a touch screen telephone but gave up because it was too difficult and unprofitable. No, wait — that last one didn't actually happen. The opposite did.

Until we chase the condom with the same fervor — and budget — as we did the race to the moon, we're ripping off the next 3 million people who will be diagnosed with HIV this year. The abstinence-only crowd will throw a hissy fit, of course, but fuck 'em. They were against safe sex in the first place, an idea that has saved, and will continue to save, lives. The next step is to demand a better alternative to the condom. We'll save countless more lives, and we'll feel good doing it.

Paul R. Abramson is a professor of psychology at UCLA and the author (with Steve Pinkerton) ofWith Pleasure: Thoughts on the Nature of Human Sexuality. L.J. Williamson is a regular contributor toL.A. Weekly.

See more from L.A. Weekly's Sex Issue: "The Swingers' Story: How Two Married People Found True Love While Swapping Partners," "10 Condom Reviews for the Well-Endowed Man," "9 Best High-Tech Vibrators to Buy for Your Valentine, Reviewed by our Experts," and "Twelve Tales of Sexual Mortification."