FEMALE CONDOM IS NOT SO WELL KNOWN!

Female condom is still not enough well known, so we invite you to read this article from “Réponse à TOUT” (i.e. “Answer to everything”) published on 2014/06/29:

To motivate young people to protect themselves during a sexual act, volunteers of Solidays festival draw attention to female condom. Between winces and questions, not a lot of people really know this contraceptive.

« This thing is disgusting. It looks like you make love to a garbage bag! » Mathieu, 21 years old already heard about female condom but he doesn’t want to test it. The young man is wandering in “Sex in the city”, the flagship exhibition of Solidays (June 27th-29th). This place invites visitors to talk about their sexuality while they are also informed about unsafe practices. The target is to deal with topics related to HIV and AIDS smoothly, evoking the “pleasure” dimension of a sexual act.

At the end of the exhibition path, volunteers are answering questions and take this opportunity to show an unknown contraceptive: female condom. Seated around a table, we show them “the thing”: A very thin tube with a flexible ring at both ends. We explain them that they just have to twist the smallest ring in “8” shape and put it inside the vagina.

Female condom: « It must pour everywhere! »

A volunteer goes close to Mathieu: « I can tell you that you won’t even notice that your partner is using it. It sticks well to skin and is heat conductor. The feelings are much better than with a classical male condom ». The young man winces. He is informed that it is possible to keep this condom for 8 hours and that it is not required to change it if the partner remains the same. «It’s strange! It must pour everywhere ». The volunteer cuts him off « No, it will not pour everywhere. We are not pipes! Our body keeps the liquid, like a tank ». The young man and his friends burst into laughter. Mathieu is going to be difficult to convince but his friend Hadrien seems less reluctant: «I know nothing about it so why not ».

Female condom: « I would be too scared to put it wrongly »

Pierre, 24 years old, already tried it. He didn’t like it. «It isn’t convenient and not very appealing all this plastic (the external part of the female condom covers the vulva). As I can choose, I prefer male condom ». However, some people are telling that it is wonderful. « You can almost not feel it if it is correctly put» explains another volunteer in charge of prevention at Solidarité Sida. « Yes, and for me this is the problem, says Chloé, 27 years old, it seems difficult to use, I will be too scared to put it wrongly! » Volunteers explain her to not hesitate to train herself at home to get the right way to do it.

Clément, 24 years old, knows nothing about it. He seems rather enthusiastic: « I am in a hurry to get more information ». Nolwenn, 19 years old seems also quite excited: « I knew it does exist but I didn’t know how to use it. It’s really a good idea to show it to us ». Morgane, 20 years old, is not surprised: she already know the female condom. « My mother is open minded. She already educate me a lot regarding contraception, prevention against STI’s , … At school, they explain us things we already know. It is really important to have parents that are able to speak about sex with us ». Laura, 19 years old, agrees: « It is important to speak freely. Here, it is really good because we break the ice regarding sex and as a consequence we learn a lot of things! »