Disrupting STI Stigma: Comfort Zones and Change
Comfort isn’t an argument for STI-exclusive dating apps or obligating STI filters on mainstream dating apps— just as comfort isn’t an argument for nondisclosure to partners.
Stigma thrives in comfort. It settles in silence. It grows in waves as educators create falsifications and myths about STIs and those whom they inhabit. It bounces from teacher to student, media to absorber, friend to friend, until someone disrupts it.
Change doesn’t happen in our comfort zones. Whether you’re looking to PR in a workout, obtain a higher level of knowledge, or develop a better wake/sleep routine, you’re most likely not going to get there by staying comfortable.
Something has to change. Whether that’s the weight we put on our backs, the resistance knob we turn on a bike, writing more each day so that we can write OUR best admissions essay, reading a book that isn’t quite our usual style, or setting five alarms instead of one that you know you’ll just press snooze when it sounds. Change starts with us.
Comfort is safe. Comfort is coping. Comfort is protection. But comfort is not where stigma ends—it’s where it thrives.