Kids are weird

Thanks to Public Television, I understood as a kid that to have babies, you have sex. Thanks to network television and the copy of "The Joy of Sex" my friends and I discovered in one of our parents' bookshelves, I understood that to have fun, grown-ups have sex.

What I didn't understand was that both could be accomplished at the same time. I had the idea that in order to get pregnant, you needed to have sex in a hospital, fully clothed, sitting up and facing each other. It had to be very clinical in order to work. If only, right?

A little later on I had the idea that a woman couldn't get pregnant if she had an orgasm. Something to do with muscle contractions expelling semen, perhaps? Wishful thinking? An extension of my previous goofy beliefs? Who knows. Kids are weird.

These are some choice former beliefs from people on the interwebs. Kids may be weird, but they're hella entertaining. Feel free to share stuff you believed in mah comments there! It'll be fun!

They're Safe, Dangscragit.

A British girl died yesterday a few hours after receiving her first dose of Cervarix, a vaccine for HPV not approved in the US (an FDA panel did give a recommendation to approve it earlier this month, though). There is no evidence that her death was caused by the vaccination at this point.

Now, I'm a vaccine kind of girl. I've tested them and have had them tested on me. I know that countless lives have been saved because of them - have you ever met someone with smallpox? Polio? Highly doubtful - thanks to vaccines. Yes, I think they're one of the greatest achievements of humankind, right alongside space flight and salami.

Some insist they're unnecessary and others say they're actually harmful. I really try and be open and to hear things objectively in case I can go ahead and learn something, but I have Feelings about people letting pop science and fear dictate their health decisions.

Yes, some people do have bad reactions to vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control track these reactions closely. Any adverse event that occurs around the time of a vaccination is reported. If you get a flu shot then get hit by a bus on your way home from the doctor's, it's an adverse event.

Gardasil, a vaccine similar to Cervarix, was approved in the United States in 2006. In 2009, the CDC reported that 985 serious adverse events (events involving "hospitalization, permanent disability or death") have occurred since approval. That's an average of about 330 serious adverse events per year, some of which had absolutely nothing to do with the vaccine.

Considering that an average of 3700 women die (not become hospitalized, not become disabled - they die) of cervical cancer every year, I'm having a hard time understanding how HPV vaccines are anything but a big fat positive.

It WORKS!

Drug scientists in Thailand announced today they've developed the first vaccine that reduces a person's risk of a contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. SWEEEEET!

16,402 Thai volunteers took part in the clinical trial, which started in 2006. Everyone got 6 shots - half got the candidate vaccine (which was actually a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines), and the other half got a placebo. Each person was then HIV tested at regular intervals for 3 years. The result was that the vaccinated people were 31.2% less likely to have contracted HIV than the placebo group. SA-WEEEET!!!

Now, exciting as the news is, it's not perfect. 31% is significant, but nowhere near good enough to release to the public. Even more troubling is that this vaccine was developed for a very specific strain of HIV found in Southeast Asia, which means it may not work on other strains in other parts of the world.

But you know what? I'm not going to let it kill my buzz. This is the best result in 20 years of research. Yes, this is fantastic news and I'm frickin' STOKED! Check out this more in-depth article courtesy of the folks at the NYT! This calls for celebration, people!!

Barrier fun!

And now, a quick primer (or refresher) on how to operate latex and polyurethane barriers! Good times!

(thanks to EvilMinded1!)

Couple things to add:

• check the expiration date on the condom wrapper - throw it away if it's expired!
• make sure there is air inside the unopened condom wrapper - if there is no air, the wrapper has been compromised - throw it away!
• pinch the tip of the condom before rolling it on to create a little pocket - it gives the cum somewhere to go.
• don't keep condoms in your wallet or pants pockets - heat breaks down latex!
• spermicidal condoms and lube can be irritating to the vagina or rectum, and can actually increase the risk of STD transmission - use them with caution!

(thanks to msuhealthpro!)

The only thing about dental dams is that they can be hard to find and are REALLY expensive. You can totally Martha Stewart up your own, though, using a condom and a pair of ordinary household scissors:

Dental dams for pennies on the dollar - it's good thing.

Have fun and be careful!!

Aspiring to Thumperness

If you don't know, Caster Semenya is a South African woman who set (shattered) the world record for the Women's 800 Meters with a time of 1:55.45 (she starts pulling away from the pack at about 1:35). What made the news was not that my girl ran half a mile in less than 2 minutes, though...what made the news was that she did it while kind of looking like a man.

A whirlwind of controversy and a battery of gender identification tests ensued. The results of said tests show that Semenya is Intersex, or DSD (Disorder of Sexual Development), which means she has both male and female sex characteristics.

Yes, there are things to consider when women with male sex characteristics (increased muscle mass and lung capacity, for example) compete against women without them, but is it really something that needs to be dragged out through the media like this? I mean, she's a kid, for Pete's sake. Do we really need to call her a hermaphrodite (which is an outdated term many intersex people find offensive) or accuse her of being a man trying to cheat? I'll admit, I even threw in an ignorant-ass comment about her being a dude to some friends of mine. And man, I really feel like an asshole about it.

It just goes to show it's best to just keep yer trap shut until all the facts are in.

We should all aspire to Thumperness, folks.

I wish all the best to this young woman, both in her athletic career and her personal life. She's an incredibly brave young person (not to mention FAST AS HELL), and I hope she can become someone the Intersex community (and the black community, the female athlete community, the rockin' cornrows community, etc.) can look up to. I'm also totally interested to see what all this brings up with the Winter Olympics coming up here in BC.

The Daily Beast had this interesting article today, which inspired me to post. And Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, is a fantastic novel. BTW.

Ugh.

A girlfriend sent me this today for a laugh. It was funnier when I thought it was just a crazy, clueless guy that made me happy I have the Manfriend.

It became less funny when I found out the messages are actually part of a viral marketing campaign for the guy's business...a business telling Canadian men that the best way to get women to sleep with them is to treat them like whores. Awesome...like the world needs another one of these jackoffs.

Here's a flyer he gives to women with enough self-respect to tell him to get lost:

This guy is serious, people. Look him up! I've been trying to come up with the words to describe how much he makes me want to barf in my mouth. I have not been successful.

That's the best I've come up with.

The worst part is there is no talking to this guy. As far as he's concerned, anyone who has a problem with him is just jealous or frigid or a lesbian or something.

Look, there is a flicker of truth is what guys like this espouse: confidence is definitely sexy. A little air of cockiness in a man makes most women want to know why you think you're so great. But when it's taken to the extreme that this guy goes to, it becomes disgusting and does nothing but perpetuate stereotypes: men only want one thing, women are only good for one thing.

Man, f#$k this guy. seriously.

The Herpes

Whilst cruising the internet this weekend, I found this on PostSecret (which is like crack, so be warned):

This is what I mean about sex making people go batshit crazy. This is SO SAD. Two lives are ruined out of ignorance.

I must point out that she did not get herpes from her boyfriend spitting on her. Herpes lives in the nervous system, and is only passed through direct skin-to-skin contact.. And not by inanimate objects. This will do it. This will not. Will. Won't. Will. Will NOT.

I must also point out that herpes does NOT have to end sex lives. It does complicate them, but having herpes and having sex are not mutually exclusive. There will always be someone who thinks you're worth the risk. PostSecret, in its infinite depth and wisdom provides proof:

written on back: "Today I told him about my herpes. It went well. He attentively listened to me and said he wasn't worried about it."

SEE?! Don't get married if you don't want to, people. Divorce is really expensive.

Questions to: info@chakabox.com! All questions will get answers!!