Condoms really aren’t that inconvenient, and don’t make sex any less satisfying. This is according to a study published in January by the Journal of Sexual Medicine, which found that the ease of men’s erections based on condom and lubricant use had no significant impact on their sexual pleasure.
The study’s lead author Debby Herbenick, associate research scientist and co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University in Bloomington, explained, ‘There’s this commonly held belief that condom use makes sex feel less natural or pleasurable, but when people use them, sex happens to be great.’ The study was based on data from the 2009 National Survey of Sexual Health, including responses from 5,865 men and women ages 18 to 59 on their latest sexual encounter.
The maker of Trojan Brand condoms, Church & Dwight Co, Inc., funded the study. Lee Heerten, sexual health coordinator for the University Health Centre, commented, ‘I’ve met some of the researchers at Trojan’s. They do take ethics really seriously. That’s important when you have a company funding this research.’ He added, ‘The Centres for Disease Control probably funds the majority of research related to sexual health, and it’s very negative-focused. I’m glad there are companies like Trojan out there funding research on a pleasure basis, because I think that’s important to people.’
So how do a couple come to the decision to use a condom or not? Heerten noted condom availability and ability to find the “right condom for them” were two of many reasons that factor into a couple’s condom use. According to Heerten, ‘A lot of pleasure and condom usage comes down to having the right fit. People don’t understand condoms come in different sizes. They might try one condom and not like it, and decide condoms are not for them, when really that might not be the case.’
He commented that the reason why you may choose not to use a condom might be because of your religious beliefs, or because you’ve had too much to drink and simply forgot – which, if you have no other method of contraception, could put your wellbeing at risk to STIs and unintended pregnancy. Heerten concluded, ‘I think often times when we talk about sexual health, we think about negative outcomes that can occur. We don’t think about the positive things it brings to peoples’ lives. Pleasure is one of those things.’
Comments are closed.