Mother Nature must really want to put an end to this human race of ours. Why else would she have infested our population with so many sexually transmitted diseases? After all, if you can't do the deed, you can't plant that seed (all techno-medical procedures aside).
But while STDs such as HIV and hepatitis C threaten to bring our reproductive days to a halt, I'm currently more plagued by how other, non-life-threatening venereal microbes have seriously disturbed the lives of college folk who fantasize of waterfalls and pool bars and sunny days and naked souls all merged into one. That's why I think the less media-hyped STDs (genital warts, nongonococcal urethritis, scabies) could merely be the result of Mother Nature's resentment rather than her ploy to jeopardize the perpetuation of humankind. Aging Father Time might not have been giving it to her, so she figured, "Well, if I'm not getting any, then no one's getting any."
I know a virgin who fooled around with this guy the first week of her freshman year and received from him a present. Actually she received many, all of which were tiny, clawed things that dwelled in her pubic hair. She went a year and a half refusing to accept so much as a high-five from another guy. These small-time VDs don't amount to death sentences, but damn if they don't take the ho out of horny. Eros, oh Eros, goddess of one-nighters, ruler of the G-spot, take me away from this filthy planet.
It's a tragedy: How's a college male or female, as virile or nubile as they respectively may be, finally on parole from the erotically void prison of Mom and Dad, supposed to figure out who is safe to jump into bed with? And I'm not even talking about intercourse. Oral sex, nude grinding, even kissing can expose us to the degradation of becoming the walking petri dishes for a host of bacteria, fungi and parasites.
Practice abstinence. Use a condom. Be honest with your partner. Get tested together. That's what the educators say. But does this advice work for all STDs, and how realistic is it?
The honest approach. Ha! To see how that plays out come game time, let's take a look at a male favorite -- the blow job. No guy wants genital herpes. But how does that guy approach the woman whose lips are inches away from engulfing what at that moment is his sole reason for living? What's the protocol for querying whether the wielder of such sensual power has these highly contagious, and inconveniently often inconspicuous, blisters and sores? The wrong approach might offend her, and she could leave. And in light of how difficult it is for most guys to attain this sacred rite, this option itself is high-risk. And let's say it's the guy who secretly has genital herpes. I know of no man who, after finally getting a girl back to his place, would honestly admit to having this taboo disease. Remember, guys at this point are being governed by an entity about three feet south of, and 10 times more childish than, their brain. The ability to rationalize long-term benefits over short-term gains simply isn't available.
And yet considering the nature and treatment of certain STDs, there shouldn't be much of a dilemma. Take the common genital warts. A medical dictionary says these start off as "soft, moist, pink or red swellings" -- probably the only time using words like "soft," "moist" and "pink" within the context of sex is actually a turn-off. The swellings then grow rapidly and may develop stalks. And, soon enough, their rough surfaces give them the appearance of small cauliflowers. Treatment ranges from cryotherapy (freezing) to anti-cancer drugs, and most methods frequently fail. Still having that dilemma?
Well, considering the libido of the average college student, the dilemma might indeed still linger. Medical books and associations aren't much help. They often dish out the same rhetoric: "We must educate people about how to prevent the spread of STDs, and especially encourage condom use." This is like a politician calling for world peace. It's all meaningless without a game plan of practical, realistic steps and guidelines. Unfortunately, the mainstream culture offers few forums for such discussion. Besides, much of the blanket advice from sex educators doesn't really take into account the complexity of the issue. Condoms and dental dams tend not to be applied during oral sex, and even then, they don't prevent certain STDs, like pubic lice. Moreover, testing for STDs is not an option for spontaneous, onetime hookups. Honesty, if you're wise, shouldn't be relied on. And abstinence, well, if that's your pleasure then this article has no significance to you anyway.
Below is a summation of the basic approaches either as offered by health officials and/or tested out by those who've come before you. Not one of them will be completely acceptable to the lustful, free-loving student. It's sadly a matter of picking the lesser of all evils:
1) Take the risk and accept the possibilities. Carpe diem! Or carpe herpum!
2) Ask your partners about their status and pray they're honest. Suspend disbelief if necessary.
3) Choose to be only with those whom you know well and trust.
4) Get a full STD-oriented medical exam with your partner. Check his or her results.
5) Obsess over the gruesome possibilities, avoid all sexual interactions with others and curse this ruinous fact of life as you sit at home with your porn collection.
6) Take matters into your own hands (not literally -- that was No. 5). If possible, look for anything out of the ordinary on your partner's body, especially in his or her pubic region: blisters, bumps, reddening, swelling of the skin, itchy rash, enlarged lymph nodes in the groin, mites (some are visible to the naked eye) and mucuslike genital discharge (prior to stimulation, of course). You should greet any one of these with something along the lines of, "Hey, I'm just going to get dressed now and go home to masturbate. Thanks for getting me drunk, though."
Sure, those involved in monogamous relationships may secretly praise the existence of these microbes as barometers of cheating. For example, what guy in a two-year relationship can brush off an accusation of unfaithfulness when he's caught feverishly scratching his balls with one hand and applying prescription Kwell to them with the other?
But for the single horndog out there, whatever approach you adopt, know this: Somewhere between having painful warts on your genitals and experiencing the most delicious time of your life is a decision that you're going to have to live with.
