Practice safe oral sex

Author: Justin Ward

To many people, oral sex isn't really sex. As just about anyone having grown up in the sex culture of the '90s knows, young people treat oral sex as a halfway point between making out and vaginal intercourse. Even President Clinton didn't consider oral sex with Monica Lewinsky to be "sexual relations" when he gave his deposition in the Paula Jones case.

Partly because of this attitude, most people don't practice safe oral sex. A 2004 survey by the American Social Health Association found that 71 percent of American adults never use condoms during oral sex. By comparison, only 23 percent said they never used condoms during vaginal intercourse. Oral sex, it seems, just isn't taken as seriously. I suspect this is particularly true at Washington University. Our generation has a much looser attitude toward oral sex than previous ones.

And there's lots of anecdotal evidence that college students don't use protection for oral sex. I personally have yet to meet anyone who admitted to using a flavored condom or dental dam.

Of course, it's not just sex culture that discourages condom use. Let's face it: latex doesn't taste great, and it does change the sensation. But these are bad excuses for putting yourself at risk. Even if "oral sex" isn't culturally considered "sex," it can still have some of the same nasty consequences that "real" sex occasionally has.

It's true that unprotected oral sex is less risky than vaginal sex and much less risky than anal sex. Still, it's possible to contract STDs that way. Venereal diseases that cause sores, notably herpes, can be transmitted between the mouth and the genitals. Bacterial diseases like gonorrhea can cause throat infections and be passed on.

It is difficult to ascertain just how often people contract STDs through oral sex. But studies find that oral sex does contribute to the spread of disease. An analysis of data collected by the Chicago Department of Public Health showed that at least 13.7 percent of those who contracted syphilis between 1998 and 2002 did so during oral sex. A study of 102 gay men in San Francisco who contracted AIDS determined that at least eight got sick from oral sex.

In short, it's a good idea to protect yourself.

Even if most people who get STDs won't get them from oral sex, you don't want to be the unlucky schlub who does. For obvious reasons, women in particular should insist that their partners wear condoms during oral sex.

Men can use a dental dam. If you don't have a dental dam, you can always improvise, says Jill Ringold, the health educator at the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness (located in the Women's Building). In place of a dental dam, men can use an unrolled condom cut lengthwise, a cut-up latex glove, or nonbiodegradable plastic wrap.

The University could also think of ways to encourage students to use protection specifically for oral sex. Of course, the University already does an admirable job of supplying condoms to students at a variety of locations. Ringold told me that in her office, lubricated condoms are located in a basket, "set up so that a student can walk in and not feel uncomfortable taking one."

Condoms are also available in Student Health and Counseling Services, although students have to ask for them. They used to be available in a basket, but that was discontinued, Ringold said, after some students began dumping entire baskets into their backpacks. RAs frequently make condoms available to students in dorms by hanging bags on their doors. Students can obtain dental dams at the Women's Resource Center, located in Umrath Hall (on Hilltop, not the 40).

All during this Sex Week, students will have increased access to all sorts of goodies, including condoms and dental dams-go pick them up! But we could be doing more all year round to encourage students to practice safe oral sex. It is precisely because students treat oral sex as halfway between making out and "real" sex that this is so important.

One idea might be to provide each student living on-campus with a small kit at the beginning of the year with a lubricated condom, a flavored condom, a dental dam and instructions on how to use them. Also, we should make flavored condoms and dental dams just as easily available as lubricated condoms are now. This would be expensive, but it would be worth it to encourage safe sax habits among students. And that could save us a lot of discomfort.