What Shapes Our Beliefs About Sex and STIs?
What influences our belief systems around sex, specifically as it relates to STIs? Where did we learn to associate good vs. bad, clean vs. dirty, or see people with STIs as morally corrupt?
I placed the headings in this graphic in an order that made sense to me, but they may differ depending on which layer held/holds the most power in your life. While this graphic draws on several of the Circles of Sexuality, it’s not intended to replicate it.
1. Legislation and Policy: The American Plan was implemented by the US American government and enforced by its various health agencies, organizations, and associations. The goal was to combat the spread of (at the time what was labeled as) venereal disease, specifically syphilis and gonorrhea, among American soldiers by targeting American women. (Stern, 2018). Government regulations, mandates, policies and guidelines lack inclusivity and are functioning within similar belief systems around promiscuity, especially in more conservative states.
2. Sex Education Experience: did you have a sex education class? Was it called sex education, or something like I had called “life skills”—which really weren’t skills at all. What mandates and policies was the educator functioning under? Was it comprehensive or abstinence-based? Did you only talk about symptoms of STIs? Shown photos of symptoms?
3. School, Religion, & Families: What were your first conversations around sex and STIs? Did your caregivers agree with your sex education (if you had one)? Did they add to it? What do your religious belief systems say about sex? Did anyone encourage barrier use as a 100% effective prevention against STIs (that’s wrong BTW)?
4. Media & Popular Culture: the “at least it’s not herpes narrative.” The lyrics about gonorrhea as demonic and the celebrity gossip on who gave herpes to who (why does it matter🤷🏻♀️).
You are at the center of all of these layers. You are impacted by all of these systems, and more, on a daily basis from the moment you enter this world. You are being told what to believe, how to support that belief, but we’re not often asked to question, “Why?"