Unlearning Invincibility: Challenging STI Stigma and Assumptions
Maintaining a sense of invincibility isn’t effective at preventing STI transmission. Many, if not most, people hold this attitude at some point in their lives. The idea that “it could never happen to me” or “I’m just not the type of person to get an STI” or “I used a condom, and they didn’t have any symptoms so I’m safe.”
These attitudes normalize assumptions and a lack of communication between sexual partners, which arguably tie back to consent. How can we practice safer, more pleasurable sex on the basis of assumption? Reality check: we can’t.
To remove the cloak of invincibility requires a drop in ego, a willingness to learn, and an ability to put that updated education into practice. Not only with our sexual partners, but with those who hold similar stigmas.
For many, invincibility drops the moment they receive a positive STI diagnosis, whether that STI is curable or not. The wheels spin, the ideas of what you thought this “type” of person looked liked or what their morals were based upon, the realization that you did everything “right” and still “failed” by society’s terms. These are all common thoughts among those who are recently diagnosed with an STI.
Unlearning invincibility and STI stigma is not an easy task, and it likely won’t happen overnight. This requires systemic change and collective awareness.
Thank you for letting me hold a small space on the IG feed for steps toward a more educated world. We deserve it. We’ve always deserved it.