Happy Penis Condom?

Gearing up for a sexy time? Making the most of those last few Stampede parties? Don’t forget to Condom Your Cowboy this Stampede!

Fact: condoms are the single best protection we have against unplanned pregnancy and STI transmission, including HIV. Condoms come in all shapes and sizes! Condoms are made for men or women, latex or polyurethane, ribbed, studded, flavoured (oh my!), glow-in-the-dark, extra-small or extra-large. St- Patrick’s Day themed? Yes please!

For every penis in the world, there is a condom that will fit it. Even if you have statistically anomalous sized genitals, you can get custom sized male condoms here, so everybody can have a well fitting condom. Using the “that condom won’t fit my junk,” just doesn’t hold true friend.

But (here comes the but) even though we know that using a condom can protect ourselves and our partners, we still don’t roll one down every time we have sex. Why not?

Depending on who you’re asking, that list can be extensive. According to the Gates’ Foundation, it’s pretty straightforward: it just doesn’t feel as good.

“The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse.”

Gotcha. So in that moment right before you’re about to achieve intercourse (i.e. the moment that condom needs to get on), you’re probably not thinking totally rationally. This leads us to the question of the day: how do we get more condoms on more penises!?

According to the Gates’ Foundation, it’s to make penises happier in condoms! There’s $100,000 USD grant to develop a male condom that “significantly preserves or enhances pleasure.” And if it’s good, there’s up to $1M in other funding to make that happy-penis condom. It will be interesting to see what ideas folks come up with.

Until we see that condom breakthrough (pardon the pun), I’m afraid we’ll have to rely on the usual methods of protection. Do you have a favorite? Share your tips on how you rock the condom!

References:
 Grand Challenges in Global Health, (2013). Develop the Next Generation of Condom. Retrieved from: www.grandchallenges.org/Explorations/Topics/Pages/NextGeneration CondomRound11.aspx
 Centre for Disease Control (CDC), (2013). Condoms & STDs: Fact Sheet for Public Health Personnel. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm