Why Does Society Glorify s*x But Stigmatize STDs?

Question

I was raped and as a result I have herpes. I has caused me severe depression, not because of the physical symptoms but rather the psychological implications.

Society shuns people with STDs like they are digusting. However, the media and society glorify s*x. Shows that are meant for teens glorify s*x and have characters that are constantly sexually active. Society acts like it is the norm to have s*x as long as you wear a condom. It is called "safe s*x."

Condoms do not prevent STDs! After contracting herpes, I researched the condition thoroughly. I found out that it is spread from SKIN TO SKIN contact, meaning even if one uses a condom, it can still infect the other person because the herpes can be on areas that the condom does not cover.

So why is it so cool and hip to be sexually active, but you are a leper if you catch an STD? Even if you are as safe as possible, and wear a condom you never know if you will catch herpes. (The symptoms can lie dormant so you can have a partner that honestly believes they don't have herpes.)

1 out of 5 Americans has Herpes. 80% of the sexually active population has been infected with HPV at one time. Yes, society says all these people are lepers....

Answer 1

Yes, society unfairly stigmatizes STD's out of ignorance.   There's this misconception that you only get STD's if you are living an immoral life.

A lot of people have various STD's and don't even know it.   I had heard that it was 1 out 3 people have Herpes but medical statistics are always just estimates based on a small sample size.   My guess is that it's probably much higher, chances are only 1 out 5 Americans was smart enough to get tested for Herpes and many more have it but were never tested for it.   A mother can infect her child with Herpes during childbirth if the birth is during an outbreak.

Using the 1/3 of the population having Herpes value and the probability of contracting Herpes by s*x with an infected individual being 75% (3/4).   The chances of a person having Herpes can be calculated from how many different partners they've had.   With s*x with one person at random, the probability is 25%, with five different partners, it's 76% and with 10, it's 94%.   These are lower bounds to the calculations as chances are they would've had s*x more than once with each individual and that the individuals they had s*x with have also have had s*x with several other people in the past.

Ask someone how many people they've had s*x with and plug that number into the equation ( 1 - ( 1 - ( 3/4 ) * ( 1/3 ) )^p ) * 100 where p is the number of different partners and that's the probability that they already have Herpes.   It's interesting to see people's reactions when I tell them that there's at least a 94% chance that they already have Herpes.   Condom use does not eliminate STD's but they do reduce the chances somewhat.

Answer 2

Why? Well in my opinion we live in a society that does not want to face any problems. They want to behave as if anything negative doesn't exist, and if it does, if you're suffering from something, it must be because you're a "bad person", so i.e. they choose to shun you.

On the other hand if you're not sexually active that is now viewed as a "negative" too, you must be "bad" somehow if you're not having s*x, so that is why they glorify it.

If people shun you they're a******s.