#safer sex

[hellyeahscarleteen]

All About Dental Dams

Dental dams are the barrier we have to help reduce our risks of infections during cunnilingus (oral sex involving the vulva) or analingus (oral sex involving the anus). Some people have the idea that oral sex with someone with a vulva does not pose STI risks. While oral sex risks are higher when there is a penis involved, rather than a vulva, please know that does not mean cunnilingus poses no risks, or is an activity where it's sound not to protect yourself or your partners. It does still present STI risks, particularly with common infections like Gonorrhea, HPV and the Herpes virus.

Like condoms, dams come in both latex and non-latex. Like condoms, they also are available with or without flavoring, if you have preferences in this regard.

How to Use Dental Dams:

Open the package carefully, take out the folded square and open it up- it's like the littlest bedsheet on earth, and you just want to open up that sheet like you were making the littlest bed. You and/or the person whose vulva, or anus, is having the dam put unto may want some lube on their genitals before putting it on. Then you, or they, just place it over the genitals, and you, or they, hold it there with hands during sexual activity.

Make sure the same side of the dam that's been against the body stays on that side. (Pro-tip from one of our volunteers: use a permanent marker to put an irreversible word/letter on the corner of one side if you're worried about spacing which side is which.)

When you're done using it, throw it away, and as with other barriers, don't reuse: you need a new dam for any additional sexual activities, or if you want to change the part of body you are using it on, like, for example, starting with cunnilingus and shifting to analingus.

Dams can be tricky to find in some areas, or for some populations -- like younger people. If they aren't available where you already purchase condoms, they can be found online. If online ordering won't work for you, that doesn't mean you have to go without! You can make a dam by cutting a condom lengthwise, or by cutting a glove: check out these easy instructions for DIY dams. You also have the option of using Saran Wrap or Cling Film instead, just don't choose the kind expressly for microwave use, since, as it tells you on the box, that kind has tiny perforations in it intended to let steam out, but which would also let germs in.

#sex ed #safer sex

[ficsex]

Silly question from a virgin who writes smut but how do dental dams work? Do they stay in place on their own or do they have to be held in place? High school sex ed taught me about condoms but not dental dams and I’ve always been curious ever since.

they do not stay in place on their own, but they also don't slide around like a piece of tissue paper on a clean hardwood floor. Like, genuinely imagine draping a disposable nitrile glove over a vulva - it will mostly stay still, unless you're moving around or messing with it.

now, wriggling with pleasure or enthusiastically licking are "messing with it. so you will have to somewhat hold it in place.

so steps are like:

open dental dam package

unfold

if you want to, put some lube down on the vulva or anus in question (this can be great)

lay the dental dam over where you're going to be licking

use one hand to like... hold the top edge? or two hands, one on each side. Or use two fingers from the bottom, like a peace sign, to hold it right over the orifice, and lick between those fingers.

but also, it will probably stay relatively still, unless you're moving your tongue around like whoah

enjoy sexy mouth sex without getting your germs on them, or their germs on you!

#safer sex #dental dams

[titleleaf]

anyway here's a bunch of 1970s gay sex books, most of which touch on STIs and sexual health

The Advocate Guide to Gay Health, R.D. Fenwick (1978 edition; be aware that this guide contained conspicuous inaccuracies remarked upon by contemporary reviewers, such as carelessly-worded information regarding anti-lice treatments — this is the only one of these guides I’ve encountered that explicitly includes information for lesbian and bisexual women)

The Gay Health Guide, Robert L. Rowan and Paul J. Gillette (1978; haven’t read this one yet and it's seemingly not available to read online; it apparently contains info for men and women but also has an ominous chapter on “Transsexualism” so I’m pouring myself a big drink before I crack open that particular interlibrary loan)

The Joy Of Gay Sex, Edmund White and Charles Silverstein (1978 edition — under “Venereal and other diseases”)

Men loving men : a gay sex guide and consciousness book (1977) under “Gay Health Problems”

And the odd queen out, last and definitely not least, the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence’s massively important Play Fair! pamphlet (1982, so early AIDS-era on this one and a real watershed marker for developing concerns regarding HIV)

For more contemporary pamphlets, the University of California San Francisco AIDS History Project' ephemera collection hosts a compilation of non-HIV STI-related materials of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as quite a lot else that's worth reading.

#ska reads a thing #queer history #safer sex

[frameacloud]

Brittney McNamara (December 5, 2016). "What to Do If You've Been Exposed to HIV." Teen Vogue.

The more people who know about what to do in that situation, the better.

#HIV #emergency preparedness #PrEP and PEP #sexually transmitted infections #safer sex #sex education #Teen Vogue #community safety #PrEP #HIV AIDS #PEP #queue #rated PG-13

[hellyeahscarleteen]

#us-centric #safer sex #resources

[mrspeetamellark]

So today one of my husband’s friends told him “No one uses condoms anymore.” The guy who said this is single and has a very healthy sex life with many different partners.

My question is, is this true? Do people not use condoms anymore? I’ve been married for a decade so I’ve been out of the dating world a long time. Just curious when condoms became obsolete?

#tw: sex mention #safe sex question #safe sex #condoms #sexuality #contraception #safer sex

[aliensriracha]

arts for my community zine i made.. if anyone is interested, there will be a digital version available

#ill add it later its not up yet #also like tell me if you read it once it is up cuz i love hearing impressions #tons of resources in it too #harm reduction #safer sex #trans artist

[gwydionmisha]

#France #Emmanuel Macron #Condoms #Safer Sex #News