Feb 17, 2013 12:47 AM GMT
Reading the thread http://www.realjock.com/gayforums/3022208 about HIV rise out of declining condom use, and the arguments about blaming porn, hookup web site etc, I really wonder....
Is it possible for decline in condom use to result from poor knowledge in the new generation ?
My generation (I'm 50yo) was spitted between paranoia and denial, the wast majority on the paranoid side. Because the science gave no clear answer, and there was no internet and, just a small detail, it was a death sentence at the time.
For years, I didn't even accept to do oral, either way, without a condom, because nobody knew for sure what was the risk level.
So we grew very eager of solid science finding to adjust our safe sex comfort zone accordingly.
Today 'young' generation feel more, to me, grouped between paranoids, reasonable, and dumb ones who don't see it as a big deal (I'll call them dumbo).
Dumbo knowledge about HIV and safe sex seems to come from dumbo peer advice far more than personal research.
We could blame them for not acting like adult and look for all the available information on the topic, but it serve no purpose, they are in the dumbo group specially because they are the kind of person who look for reassurance instead of information.
What if, as a community, we put pressure on the main hookup sites and app (like grindr), to have HIV and safe sex quiz mandatory to create an account ?
I don't mean a pledge to use safe sex, that would be outrageous, I just mean a proof you know the basic facts.
I mean, if you don't provide the correct answers, you can't create an account, period.
Of course, very soon, every dumbo will learn the right answers by heart, and might not believe them but, at least, they will have been exposed to legit HIV knowledge.
If it create animated flame wars about how legit or not the quiz is, all the better : it will be a debate about HIV and sex safe including the science side. If the bareback fan make a huge attack of the process, they will just end up diffusing more the information about safe sex.
And hookup web site could see it as an opportunity to reduce their bad image. They would not lose membership, because guys eager to fuck will do anything to fuck.
I just propose to use the urge to fuck to expose young gay guys to some basic facts about safe sex and HIV.
Is it possible for decline in condom use to result from poor knowledge in the new generation ?
My generation (I'm 50yo) was spitted between paranoia and denial, the wast majority on the paranoid side. Because the science gave no clear answer, and there was no internet and, just a small detail, it was a death sentence at the time.
For years, I didn't even accept to do oral, either way, without a condom, because nobody knew for sure what was the risk level.
So we grew very eager of solid science finding to adjust our safe sex comfort zone accordingly.
Today 'young' generation feel more, to me, grouped between paranoids, reasonable, and dumb ones who don't see it as a big deal (I'll call them dumbo).
Dumbo knowledge about HIV and safe sex seems to come from dumbo peer advice far more than personal research.
We could blame them for not acting like adult and look for all the available information on the topic, but it serve no purpose, they are in the dumbo group specially because they are the kind of person who look for reassurance instead of information.
What if, as a community, we put pressure on the main hookup sites and app (like grindr), to have HIV and safe sex quiz mandatory to create an account ?
I don't mean a pledge to use safe sex, that would be outrageous, I just mean a proof you know the basic facts.
I mean, if you don't provide the correct answers, you can't create an account, period.
Of course, very soon, every dumbo will learn the right answers by heart, and might not believe them but, at least, they will have been exposed to legit HIV knowledge.
If it create animated flame wars about how legit or not the quiz is, all the better : it will be a debate about HIV and sex safe including the science side. If the bareback fan make a huge attack of the process, they will just end up diffusing more the information about safe sex.
And hookup web site could see it as an opportunity to reduce their bad image. They would not lose membership, because guys eager to fuck will do anything to fuck.
I just propose to use the urge to fuck to expose young gay guys to some basic facts about safe sex and HIV.
