Abstinence May Not Be Realistic
Dear Ann Landers: Please rerun the column about masturbation as a safe alternative to unprotected sex. It is very important. - No Name, No State
Dear No Name: The column you are referring to ran on Oct. 24, 1993. It was an edited version of an article by Dr. Steven Sainsbury of San Luis Obispo, Calif., which appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Here it is again:
“My 15-year-old patient lay quietly on the gurney as I asked the standard questions: ‘Are you sexually active?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ Next question: ‘Are you using any form of birth control?’ The response was ‘No.’ Next question: ‘What about condoms?’ Response, ‘No.’
“Her answers didn’t surprise me. She had a rip-roaring case of gonorrhea. It could easily have been AIDS. I treat teenagers like this one every day. Most are sexually active. Condoms are used rarely and sporadically.
“Yet in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, I continue to hear condoms touted as the solution to HIV transmission. Condoms are being passed out in high schools, sold in college restroom dispensers and promoted on TV. The message is: Condoms equal safe sex.
“As a physician, I wish it were true. It isn’t. It is a dangerous lie.
“Fact No. 1: In 1989, a survey among college women, a group we presume to be well-informed on the risks of herpes, genital warts, cervical cancer and AIDS, showed that only 41 percent insisted on condom use. If educated women can’t be persuaded to use condoms, how can we expect teenagers to do so?
“Fact No. 2: Condoms fail frequently due to improper storage, handling and usage. The breakage rate during vaginal intercourse is 14 percent. For a person who averages sex three times a week, a 14 percent breakage rate equates to a failure nearly every two weeks.
“For condoms to be the answer to AIDS, they must be used every time, and they can never break or leak. So what’s the answer? The only answer is no sex until one is ready to commit to a monogamous relationship. The key words are abstinence and monogamy.
“I can hear the moans. Condom fans murmur words like unrealistic, naive and old-fashioned. Well, perhaps what is needed to stem the tide of AIDS and unwanted pregnancies is a return to those old-fashioned concepts.
“To quote Dr. Robert C. Noble, a University of Kentucky infectious disease expert, ‘We should stop kidding ourselves. There is no safe sex. If the condom breaks, you may die.”’
Dear Readers: Powerful piece, isn’t it? Well, now I am going to suggest a far more realistic solution than abstinence.
The sex drive is the strongest human drive after hunger. It is nature’s way of perpetuating the human race. Males reach their sexual peak as early as 17. There must be an outlet. I am recommending self-gratification or mutual masturbation, whatever it takes to release the sexual energy. This is a sane and safe alternative to intercourse, not only for teenagers but also for older men and women who have lost their partners.
I do not want to hear from clergymen telling me it’s a sin. The sin is making people feel guilty about responding to this basic, fundamental human drive. I love my readers, and my mission is to be of service.