Conference turris::womannotes-v1

There are other diseases out there that are far more common than AIDS.
 Certainly, none of the others are fatal and incurable, but they should
  not be forgotten about.

Herpes, the one that the media was using to "end the sexual revolution"
 (and which they dropped like a hot potato when AIDS came along), isn't
  fatal but it is incurable.  (I recently saw an ad from a drug company
   which mentioned a brand new "help" for herpes, but I don't know what
    that means).

The disease that is by far the most common (and virtually ignored by the
 media) is chlamydia (-: or something spelled similarly :-).  This dis-
  ease isn't fatal or incurable, but it can do irreversible damage to
   sexual organs, making reproduction impossible.

The basic medical advice is the same:  if there's a man involved in your
 sex life, your sex life should also involve condoms.
  <_Jym_>

    re .1:
    
    I do not mean to be silly, but I never thought about before...
    
    > The basic medical advice is the same:  if there's a man involved in your
    > sex life, your sex life should also involve condoms.
      
    but what if there *isn't* a man involved in a woman's sex life?
    How can a woman protect herself from other women?
    
    I know it's an academic question for me, and probably rude of me
    to ask, but now that I've asked it, I can't think of a solution.
    
    (if this offends, I will promptly delete)
                                                   
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    There are no documented cases of AIDS being sexually transmitted
    from one woman to another. Statistically speaking, lesbians have
    the lowest risk of catching AIDS, nearing 0%, particularly if they
    are not in any of the other classes at risk, i.e., intravenous drug
    users, hemophiliacs.
    
    Tamzen

Yes, that's right.  This point is usually overlooked by people who take
 the line that "AIDS is God's punishment for homosexuality."  I guess
  you can see it as another case of the "male as norm" mentality.

As for other diseases, I don't really know . . .
 <_Jym_>

    According to the first article in 97.0, vaginal and cervical fluids
    can contain a high enough concentration of the AIDS virus to allow
    it to be passed on. Whereas (I would imagine) at least 50% of the
    sexual activity between women would involve oral sex, I can't imagine
    how it would NOT be passed on.
    
    sds

{RE .5} - Be that as it may, lesbians are still the lowest risk group
 for getting AIDS.  The literature I've seen for "safe sex" puts oral
  sex (without condoms) in the "possibly not safe" category.

{RE .4} - Some information has been forthcoming.  It is apparently
 possible for lesbians to catch herpes via genital/genital contact,
  as well as via genital/oral contact (just like everybody else).

Yeast infections are also very easy to catch, but at least they can
 be cured.  (They're no fun, though.)
  <_Jym_>

    BTW I wasn't really asking about AIDS specifically, but all venereal
    diseases.
    
    But no one seems to have answered the question. Or maybe you
    have, tacitly. The question was, is there any way for a woman to
    protect herself from (the diseases of) another woman? 
    
    Men have the condom, which will protect them from everything.
    Women have ... the condom, which will protect them from men.
    
    Anyway, I guess the answer is no. I guess another example
    of God's wrath on homosexuals.
    
    (I am, of course, being fecetious)
    
    Oh yes, now that you mention it <_Jym_>, I hear men can catch yeast
    infections too, and it's even worse on a man. (or so I hear)
                                                                
                                                   
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Gee, I didn't realize men could catch yeast infections.  Yikes!

I consulted our copy of _The_New_Our_Bodies,_Ourselves_.  It tells me
 that lesbians are least likely to catch *any* sexually transmitted
  diseases (STDs), statistically speaking.  The most important concern
   is herpes.

It also mentions preventative measures other than condoms.  They mention
 vaginal spermicides, especially Nonoxynol 9.  There are also products
  made especially to help prevent STDs, like Lorophyn Vaginal Supposit-
   ories, and a gel called Progonasyl (prescription-only).  I don't know
    how suited these products are for oral sex; but of the spermicides
     I've had occasion to taste-test, Nonoxynol 9 was the least unpleas-
      ant.  (It was, in fact, designed to be odorless and flavorless.)
       <_Jym_>

>Be that as it may, lesbians are still the lowest risk group
> for getting AIDS.  The literature I've seen for "safe sex" puts oral
>  sex (without condoms) in the "possibly not safe" category.

Oral sex WITH condoms boggles the mind!!!  Not to mention boggling the
intent!!!

Maybe lesbians are a lowest risk group simply because they statistically
are less likely to have encounters with males who are AIDS infected??
Just a guess....  and they'd be 50-50 even with women who have been
exposed or infected.

I've been away for 10 days (couldn't you tell by the delicious silence?)
in, of all places, San Francisco... city of the toilet seat covers....

I don't force male lovers to use condoms to protect me from VD, I would
GLADLY have traded places with Linda Evans and kissed Rock Hudson, and
I rarely go into a bathroom, worrying about who has been there before me...

and yet I spent the last 10 days only going to the bathroom in my own hotel
room because my mother made me promise that I wouldn't sit on any public
toilet seat!!!  She was absolutely CONVINCED that I would come home infected
with AIDS.  My mother doesn't know who to believe -- the experts who says that
AIDS can only be transmitted thru sexual contact, or her mother's instincts
that tell her that places where sexual organs could even possibly come close
to are hotbeds of trouble!

I have had ENOUGH of the scare tactics!!!!  I would rather go back to the
Herpes scare, which at least wasn't fatal.... (with some snickers when my
brother and his girlfriend often showed up with mirror-imaged cold sores).

Granted, the AIDS stuff isn't the REAL problem here (I love you, Mom, but
one of these days..... )

And all the stereotypes about San Francisco are true, kids... I had more fun
snapping pictures of wierdos than the Golden Gate Bridge.

Bugsy

The latest issue of Consumer Reports has a good article on Aids.

...Karen

    
    Re .9, you must be joking!!  You wouldn't really have gladly traded
    places with Linda Evans and kissed Rock Hudson?  Surely you don't
    think his kiss worth dying for??
    
    I don't worry about toilet seats - if they LOOK clean I risk it!
    But, if I knew someone had aids I'd feel terrible for them, but
    I wouldn't be too eager to KISS them.
    
    (One thing I learned early, too.  NEVER listen to my mother's advice
    on anything remotely connected with sex! (like toilet seats in San
    Francisco for instance.)  
    
    Lorna
    

    RE: .11

    Lorna, you won't catch AIDS from just kissing someone.  Studies have shown
    that even close family members that kiss, share bathrooms, drink from
    same glass, sleep in same bed, etc., do not catch AIDS.  Of course, I
    don't go around kissing strangers anyways, but I wouldn't stop being
    affectionate to family members or friends if I found out they had
    AIDS.

    ...Karen

    RE: .11 & .12
    
    Hi!  
    
    Linda Evans won't get AIDS......so .12 is right.  We learned that
    in my business when we have to do CPR.  Of course I use a face mask
    if I have one handy but that's for other things not really AIDS.
    So far Medical Science has proven that the only way to get AIDS
    is transmitted by the sexual act and maybe ? that's still not proven
    yet the transmission through trying on content lenses....but that's
    theory is still up in the air.  The only other way is through blood
    contact.  If you have an open sore/wound and you got in contact
    with a person who has AIDS's blood.  That's usually for doctors,
    nurses, emts, etc. who have to worry about that or a good person
    stopping for a car accident etc.  But kissing is not a way to get
    AIDS so don't worry.  Of course I wouldn't kiss people I didn't
    know either not even Rock Hudson.  He was a good actor and it's
    a tragedy and unfortunately from what I hear it's getting worse
    in one of the African nations....not sooooooo good.  I hope they
    find a cure soon it's very very tragic.
    
    bs
    
    

    
    Re .12 and .13, if Aids can only be transmitted through sexual
    intercourse or blood transfusions then why all the hullabaloo about
    people having to work with other employees who have Aids?  I just
    saw something on TV this morning about employees walking out on
    their jobs (at a telephone company I think) because an employee
    with Aids was allowed to return to work.  The report said that these
    people had been informed about Aids so they must know that they
    can't catch it from just working with this guy.  Is this just another
    case of mass hysteria, like witch hunts?
    
    Lorna
    

    the hysteria is partly due to ignorance, and at least in the 
    past, has been a "socially acceptable" form of discrimination
    against gays. now that AIDS is spreading to the general population,
    this latter ploy doesn't work so well.
    
    liz

Unless you have a *thing* for Rock Hudson, of COURSE you wouldn't want
to kiss him....

But I do.... and I would.....

Bugsy

Being pointed back to this note by the latest in 326 (?, AIDS witch hunt note),
I read through the replies and realized no one answered the question someone
raised of how women can protect themselves from other women who may be
infected.  The following are some suggestions.


Vaginal fluid does contain the virus -- less than semen or blood, more than
saliva.  In oral sex, it could cause infection if the active partner has any
minute cuts in the gums.  It is recommended than anyone engaging in any type of
oral sex should NOT brush his/her teeth first, as this is likely to cause small
abrasions.  The recommended protection is to use a latex "dental dam", which
is placed over the passive partner's genitilia.  This is pretty unappealling to
most people, and I rather doubt it will become a popular practice since so few
people like the taste of plastic.  The dental dams (in spite of coming in
chocolate and other flavors) are so disagreeable, the AIDS Action Committee
is suggested plastic wrap (Saran Wrap, etc).  It clings, is cheap, available,
and I suppose less of a turn off.  

Another suggested safety practice is to use finger cots, in case of 
any broken skin (we musn't forget microscopic cuts).  These resemble
nothing more than finger condoms, and the AAC has suggested that rolled up
condoms could be used just as well, and are probably easier to get. 
Pentration of more than a finger or two runs the risk of injuring
tissue in the passive partner, hence providing more likelihood for transmission
into the bloodstream.  Surgical gloves would reduce that risk.

Vulva-to-vulva contact should be avoided in the case of any open, external
sore, but isn't considered particularly unsafe. There aren't any recommendations
that I'm aware of.  Menstrual blood should definitely be avoided, however, 
and like any other kind of blood is a high-risk vector.

    Hi Catherine!
    
    Good information we could all use.
    
    

    I just read today in VNS (and heard it was on the news last night)
    that a recent tally reveals 1 in 68 children born in NY (NYC I assume)
    is born with AIDS.
    
    What a shock.
    
    -Jody
    

    
    	1 in 68 born in 1987 tested positive for the AIDs antibody, not the
    	same thing (I think).

    	Right, it's not the same thing.  Testing positive only means
    	a person is carrying antibodies to the virus ( ie. has been
    	exposed to it ).  A diagnosis of AIDS is not made until the
    	immune system has been destroyed to the point that certain
    	opportunistic diseases are present.  There has not been enough
    	time to determine whether everyone who tests positive will
    	eventually get the disease.  There are people who had the
    	antibody in their blood eight years ago and are still healthy.
    		Linda

    	"will eventually get the disease".  Should read "will 
    	eventually be diagnosed with AIDS".  AIDS is a "syndrome",
    	it is the other infections that cause death, the virus
    	is only responsible in that it incapacitates the immune
    	system.