The 15% “typical use” failure rate is the failure rate for people who use condoms most of the time. I’m disinclined to call it a failure of condoms myself that they don’t work when people don’t use them, though perhaps it could be considered a defect in the method that people apparently have such trouble using them all the time. Do note that birth control research does not involve researchers observing people in their bedrooms to see how and how consistently they are using their methods. The research is based on people’s reported use, so since those reports are obviously not perfectly reliable, the 2% “perfect use” failure rate almost certainly is also partly (perhaps mostly) due to occasional failures to use the condoms.
In IT, if people don’t use your software correctly, it’s called “Bad user interface design.” In business, if people don’t like your product enough to actually use it, it’s considered your responsibility to make a better product next time. Most people are blaming the condom users, but I think we can take the outside perspective instead. Instead of “shoulding” the condom users, let’s criticize the product:
You have to remember the product when? This is kinda bad timing to remember stuff, you know?
They have to carefully concentrate and use agile finger motions at that time? Maybe they are so excited that fine motor skills like putting on a condom become really hard due to shaking fingers, or concentration becomes a problem due to distraction, and they put it on wrong.
They have to use impulse control then? Maybe their neuro-chemistry is all bent out of shape and impulse control is low. This is kinda a bad time to expect excellent impulse control, seriously.
Maybe they spent a lot of time getting themselves or their partners ready to go, and they know that a delay can deflate the mood, so they feel conflicted about doing things like reading the instructions, taking their time putting it on, or just getting the thing out.
Please do not confuse this message for “don’t use condoms”. My message is actually “We need something better than just condoms.” (Even if condoms were a joy to use, their effectiveness is still too low.) More importantly:
Please consider also that if there’s any trait at all that makes using condoms less likely to succeed (lower impulse control, less agile fingers, memory issues) those traits may have a genetic advantage for as long as condoms are a primary method of contraception. Example: If you keep forgetting to use your condoms, you’re more likely to get someone pregnant, and if the memory issue is genetic, you’ve just put one more copy of that gene into the world.
To prevent their companies from having a negative impact on the gene pool, and because the consequences for their customers can be so dire (moreso for a pro-life couple who isn’t ready for a baby), I think contraceptive makers should take more responsibility here.
IT people do it. Other business people do it. They can do it, too.
Replacing condoms doesn’t work for people who aren’t currently in monogamous relationships. We need them to protect against STIs. Encouraging people to entirely replace condoms would I should think lead to an increase in STIs.
I’ve used condoms every single time I’ve had sex, and they’ve only failed twice. Both of the times they failed I took emergency contraception. I’ve never had a pregnancy scare. Of course I could be infertile, but many of my friends use the same method, and they find it effective. Others use a combination of hormonal contraception and condoms.
I’m torn here. Do I tell you that’s a good point because combination strategies can be much more effective at preventing pregnancy, or do I let you know that the efficacy rate for STIs are subject to the same forces as the efficacy rates for pregnancy?
I guess I can do both. You’ll decide what risk to take in any case.
The amount of protection that you can get from a condom against STIs is not as good as the amount of protection you get against pregnancy. Not everyone can give you an STI (about 20% of the population) whereas most straight couplings can lead to pregnancy (about 90% of people of childbearing age are fertile). So that increases your odds of a good outcome. Some people are honest about their STI status, and that also increases your odds of a good outcome—but don’t forget that some people do not even know that they have an STI, and others may be in denial or crazy or sociopathic—and if you’re having casual sex, you really can’t be sure about a person’s moral character and sanity level.
Your chance of getting an STI while using a condom would be a lot higher than 50% if you had a partner with a disease for the rest of your life. If you have random partners, and 1⁄20 people has an STI and some of them don’t know it, and some of them aren’t honest… I’m not sure what your chances are, but if you’re successful with finding partners, it could be substantially worse than a 2% lifetime risk.
You may want to try looking up rates of STI among people who have non-relationship sex.
Another possibility is to find a special friend and get tested together.
If that won’t work, a combination strategy (like condoms with spermicide) could be a significant improvement. You may want to research nonoxynol-9 before using it. I’ve heard that it increases the chance of disease transmission.
Pretty much all the non monogamous people I know get regular tests. So yes, most people use testing in addition to condoms. I don’t have casual sex any more, really, but I never caught an STI when I did.
Oh, and most condoms sold in the UK contain spermicide.
The 15% “typical use” failure rate is the failure rate for people who use condoms most of the time. I’m disinclined to call it a failure of condoms myself that they don’t work when people don’t use them, though perhaps it could be considered a defect in the method that people apparently have such trouble using them all the time. Do note that birth control research does not involve researchers observing people in their bedrooms to see how and how consistently they are using their methods. The research is based on people’s reported use, so since those reports are obviously not perfectly reliable, the 2% “perfect use” failure rate almost certainly is also partly (perhaps mostly) due to occasional failures to use the condoms.
In IT, if people don’t use your software correctly, it’s called “Bad user interface design.” In business, if people don’t like your product enough to actually use it, it’s considered your responsibility to make a better product next time. Most people are blaming the condom users, but I think we can take the outside perspective instead. Instead of “shoulding” the condom users, let’s criticize the product:
You have to remember the product when? This is kinda bad timing to remember stuff, you know?
They have to carefully concentrate and use agile finger motions at that time? Maybe they are so excited that fine motor skills like putting on a condom become really hard due to shaking fingers, or concentration becomes a problem due to distraction, and they put it on wrong.
They have to use impulse control then? Maybe their neuro-chemistry is all bent out of shape and impulse control is low. This is kinda a bad time to expect excellent impulse control, seriously.
Maybe they spent a lot of time getting themselves or their partners ready to go, and they know that a delay can deflate the mood, so they feel conflicted about doing things like reading the instructions, taking their time putting it on, or just getting the thing out.
Please do not confuse this message for “don’t use condoms”. My message is actually “We need something better than just condoms.” (Even if condoms were a joy to use, their effectiveness is still too low.) More importantly:
Please consider also that if there’s any trait at all that makes using condoms less likely to succeed (lower impulse control, less agile fingers, memory issues) those traits may have a genetic advantage for as long as condoms are a primary method of contraception. Example: If you keep forgetting to use your condoms, you’re more likely to get someone pregnant, and if the memory issue is genetic, you’ve just put one more copy of that gene into the world.
To prevent their companies from having a negative impact on the gene pool, and because the consequences for their customers can be so dire (moreso for a pro-life couple who isn’t ready for a baby), I think contraceptive makers should take more responsibility here.
IT people do it. Other business people do it. They can do it, too.
Replacing condoms doesn’t work for people who aren’t currently in monogamous relationships. We need them to protect against STIs. Encouraging people to entirely replace condoms would I should think lead to an increase in STIs.
I’ve used condoms every single time I’ve had sex, and they’ve only failed twice. Both of the times they failed I took emergency contraception. I’ve never had a pregnancy scare. Of course I could be infertile, but many of my friends use the same method, and they find it effective. Others use a combination of hormonal contraception and condoms.
I’m torn here. Do I tell you that’s a good point because combination strategies can be much more effective at preventing pregnancy, or do I let you know that the efficacy rate for STIs are subject to the same forces as the efficacy rates for pregnancy?
I guess I can do both. You’ll decide what risk to take in any case.
The amount of protection that you can get from a condom against STIs is not as good as the amount of protection you get against pregnancy. Not everyone can give you an STI (about 20% of the population) whereas most straight couplings can lead to pregnancy (about 90% of people of childbearing age are fertile). So that increases your odds of a good outcome. Some people are honest about their STI status, and that also increases your odds of a good outcome—but don’t forget that some people do not even know that they have an STI, and others may be in denial or crazy or sociopathic—and if you’re having casual sex, you really can’t be sure about a person’s moral character and sanity level.
Your chance of getting an STI while using a condom would be a lot higher than 50% if you had a partner with a disease for the rest of your life. If you have random partners, and 1⁄20 people has an STI and some of them don’t know it, and some of them aren’t honest… I’m not sure what your chances are, but if you’re successful with finding partners, it could be substantially worse than a 2% lifetime risk.
You may want to try looking up rates of STI among people who have non-relationship sex.
Another possibility is to find a special friend and get tested together.
If that won’t work, a combination strategy (like condoms with spermicide) could be a significant improvement. You may want to research nonoxynol-9 before using it. I’ve heard that it increases the chance of disease transmission.
Pretty much all the non monogamous people I know get regular tests. So yes, most people use testing in addition to condoms. I don’t have casual sex any more, really, but I never caught an STI when I did.
Oh, and most condoms sold in the UK contain spermicide.