Condom - Simple English Wikipedia

# Condom

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  For the city in France, see Condom-en-Armagnac

A condom sealed in typical packaging
Condoms

A condom is an elastic stocking of rubber that covers a man's penis (his sex part) during sex to stop new babies (pregnancy). It also stops diseases you get from having sex. Such diseases are called sexually transmitted diseases or sexually transmitted infections, STDs/STIs). Examples of such diseases are gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV. Condoms are also named prophylactics, or rubbers.

## [edit] How to use a condom

How to put on a condom

1. Look at the date on the condom box or wrapper. Do not use condoms with expired dates.
2. Only use a condom one time. Do not use the same condom over and over again.
3. Use care when opening the condom wrapper on one side. Be serious and do not touch the condom with sharp things such as a sharp fingernail.
4. Use fingers to push out all the air from the top of the condom. Air pockets can break the condom.
5. Put the rolled-up condom on the top of the penis. There are two ways to put it on, but the condom rolls on only one way. Look for roll-on-way before condom touches the top of the penis.
6. Unroll the condom over the penis. Unroll it all the way.
7. Test that the condom is not loose.
8. Do not use the same condom twice! Use a new condom every time you put it in to "use" i.e having sex.
9. Take out the penis from the woman/man soon after you ejaculate, in case you were penetrating during sex. Hold the condom when you do this.

There also is a Wikibook on the use of male condoms

## [edit] Arguments against condom use

### [edit] Arguments by religious communities

Several religious communities (like Catholic Christians, Muslims, and some of the Protestant Christians) see problems if condoms are used:

- They say there is a difference in having sex for making babies, and having sex for fun (to make the relationship between the partners stronger).
- They say that using a condom to prevent a pregancy is bad. Rather than using a condom, natural methods should be used to prevent pregancy. Such methods include to choose the time of the month carefully.
- Other communities are not as strict, and only look at the result. They leave it to those invovled to choose the correct means.
- Some people say the use of condom is against Nature (unnatural).

## [edit] Condom failure

When a condom does not work properly, this is because it is not used properly, in most cases. Some people said that sex education should be different for the different age groups. You need to talk to the 12-14 year olds in a different manner than you need to talk to the 10-12 year olds. Some people did a study that showed that condoms do break very rarely. They also slip off very rarely. Most condom failures are due to misuse. This has led some researchers to suggest age-appropriate sex education that includes how to use a condom properly. A 1994 FHI study showed that most condom users rarely experience condom breakage or slippage. [1]. The World Health Organization says that condoms work the way they should in 97 out of a 100 cases. [2]. The study looked at people who always used condoms for a year.

Something else that can cause a condom to not work as it should, is sabotage. This is when one of the partners wants a baby, but the other one does not. Usually they pierce a condom with a sharp object, making the condom useless. Some people see it as not ethical, because one of the two sex partners does it without the other one's knowledge. There are websites that show how to do it, if the woman wants a baby, but the man does not.

One method of testing condoms for microscopic holes involves placing the condom being tested over one conducting form with another on the other side of the condom. If the condom does not prevent an electric current from flowing between the two conducting forms, it fails the test. Holes in condoms are unlikely if proper handling conditions (see below) are followed.

## [edit] Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually-transmitted infections (STIs)

According to a 2001 study by the National Institutes of Health, correct and consistent condom use:

- Reduces the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission by approximately 85%.
- Reduces the risk of gonorrhea for men by approximately 71%.

Other sexually-transmitted infections may be affected as well, but they could not draw definite conclusions from the research they were working with. In particular, these include STIs associated with ulcerative lesions that may be present on body surfaces where the condom does not cover, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), genital herpes simplex (HSV), chancroid, and syphilis. If contact is made with uncovered lesions, transmission of these STIs may still occur despite appropriate condom use. Additionally, the absence of visible lesions or symptoms cannot be used to decide whether caution is needed.

An article in The American Journal of Gynecologic Health showed that "all women who correctly and consistently used Reality® were protected from Trichomonas vaginalis" (referring to a particular brand of female condom).

## [edit] References

- Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 2005. Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era. New York: Touchstone.
- MacPhail, Catherine and Campbell, Catherine (2001 Jun). “I think condoms are good but, aai, I hate those things: condom use among adolescents and young people in a Southern African township.” Social Science and Medicine, 2001, 52, 11, 1613-1627
- Kulczycki, Andrzej. "The Sociocultural context of condom use within marriage in rural Lebanon. Studies in Family Planning 35.4 (Dec 2004): 246(15).
- Crossley, Michele L. (2004). "Making sense of 'barebacking': Gay men's Narratives, unsafe sex and the 'resistance habitus'. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 225-244.
- Watt, Emily (2005 April 24). "Older Adults Shy Away From Safe Sex Advice". The Sunday Star-Times (Auckland, New Zealand).
- Semple, S.J., Patterson, T.L., & Grant, I. (2004). Determinants of condom use stage of change among heterosexually-identified methamphetamine users. AIDS & Behavior, 8 (4), 391-400.

## [edit] External links

- Planned Parenthood of America — Provides information and training for all forms of birth control from their website and locations across the U.S.
- Condom Research from FHI - Family Health International's topic page on condoms.
- Fact sheet on condoms and sexually transmitted diseases - from the US Center for Disease Control
- Spotlight: How to Choose and Use Condoms — directed at gay men, but contains advice applicable to all
- Condom use — In French, but with many pictures.

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