Email a Friend
Print Article
This article is from the WebMD News Archive
Women: Let's Talk About Sex
June 18, 2003 -- This coming Monday, water cooler chat across the country likely will focus on the sexual escapades on HBO's hit show Sex in the City, whose new season premieres Sunday night.
But a new survey reveals that while we may talk about others' steamy sex lives, we don't talk about our own -- and this silence may put women at risk for unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases ( STDs).
Talking about sex with doctors and partners will help remove the cloak of shame around sex and STDs and save lives, said reproductive health experts Wednesday at a news conference in New York.
Sexual Silence
The survey of 800 women found that fewer than half of those aged 18 to 49 have discussed HIV/AIDs or other STDS with their doctors. What's more, close to 50% say they have never discussed HIV/AIDs with their partners and 40% say they have never brought up getting tested for other, more common STDS. The survey was sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Self magazine.
"The most common feelings expressed by women in regard to sexual health are embarrassment, guilt, and shame and these feelings often affect a woman's ability to speak honestly and openly with their health care provider and partner," says Hilda Hutcherson, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeon's and co-director of the New York Center for Women's Sexual Health at Columbia University.
Nine of 10 women find STDs "shameful," the survey showed. What's more, some women worry that if they bring up STDs, their partners will think they are promiscuous. They are also very concerned about what their doctor will think of them if they bring up STDs, says Hutcherson, the author of What Your Mother Never Told You About Sex.
Exactly 70% said they would feel more embarrassed about having an STD than any other health concern, the survey showed.
"Sexual silence leads to sexual ignorance [and] places women at risk for not only unwanted pregnancy or an STD, but you can die from lack of knowledge [due to HIV/AIDS and certain cancers linked to STDs]," Hutcherson says.
"Sex is as much a health issue as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity," she says.
Women worry far more about breast cancer than STDs, yet they are far more likely to contract an STD. Specifically, the survey showed that 48% were very concerned about breast cancer, while 33% were concerned about HIV/AIDs and 28% were concerned about other STDs.
More than 80% of women did not know that one in three HIV infections in the U.S. occurs in women or that one in four Americans will get an STD in their lifetime.
del.icio.us
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
-
11
-
12
New-Mom Exercises: Back in Shape
Here's what a mom can do to start getting back in shape shortly after leaving the hospital.
Is Your Pillow Dead? How to Know
