science in the WRONG hands part II

thanks to hotstuff and feministing, i have been alerted to a horrible website:

horrible website: sense and sexuality

in the spirit of the linda richman from "coffee talk" (aka mike meyers, watch it!), that website promotes neither sense nor sexuality, discuss.

in the words of feminsting:"I think I can safely say this is the biggest piece of crap website on sex I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot. Between the straight up lies and scare tactics, the sexism, and the hearts making up the DNA strand on the homepage (cause women are just made for love, not sex) - I don't even know where to start."

i hesitate to start, b/c there is so much wrong with this website, but i figured i should start with what i know the most about: hpv. this website uses hpv as it's #1 scare tactic other than a broken heart.

the fact is a large majority of sexually active people will have a genital hpv infection in their lifetime. it's the most common std and for most people there are no symptoms. the best way to prevent hpv is the hpv vaccine, though if you have had 2 or more partners chances are you have already had at least one type of genital hpv. condoms do provide some protection, but not 100%. the best way for sexually active women to protect themselves against genital cancers associated with hpv is to go their gynecologist regularly (and you are all doing that ladies, right?!)

this website, and other puritanical forces twist these facts to their advantage. this website claims "all science, no spin," a clear indication that there is spin. they write as if any risk is not worth taking. we all know that sex is risky, and that includes to emotional health. but risks are an important of life, no?

ok, back to my professional hat, the authors have definitely done their homework. they have read the scientific articles, as indicated by use of terms such as "transformation zone" and referring to an article that found hpv under fingernails. they use the latter to say that mutual masturbation isn't ok, either. that was NOT stated by the investigation's author and is not known yet. and when science doesn't go their way they make statements like this one: "And of course no vaccine prevents a broken heart."

let me put it this way folks, hpv is common. to prevent it and its consequences get the vaccine (if you are young) and go to the doctor. however, the risk of getting it should not be used to prevent a healthy sex life.