It might seem obvious to you and me that one of the benefits of contraception is that it means you can enjoy sex without worrying about unintended pregnancy…but that is not a topic often discussed by the family planning industry who prefer to highlight the problems of sex. As Phil Says
“To this day you seldom read anything about sex in the family planning literature. The reason, I think, is that sex bothers people, especially good sex. We hear a lot about problems with sex (and there are many), but very little about good sex, very little about the quantum of pleasure in the world enjoyed by the two billion women and men (and same-sex couples) who regularly enjoy consensual sex. Is not such sex a good thing? Should not we family planners celebrate the fact that the contraceptives we provide make it possible for people to have more sex? Isn’t more sex good?”
Phil Harvey himself is an amazing pioneer who set up DKT International one of the largest not for profit private providers of contraception and who provided 650 million condoms in 2011 in low income countries. He also set up Adam and Eve sex toys online store whose profits subsidizes the provision of family planning to DKT. He has taken on a few challenges in his life time including the US Government’s censorship laws and so we are of course over the moon that he lays out the argument for the sad fact that,
‘Sex has a long, negative reputation in human history.’
And how it’s important not just to talk about health but the other advantages of safer sex. Um like love and affection..
‘we’d do a better job I think if we addressed the subject of sexual pleasure head-on. After all, sex without pregnancy is a powerful expression of love for many couples.’
And of course the icing on the cake for us is his mention of us as ‘ a brave band’
‘There are some positive signs on the horizon. A brave band of concerned family planning and HIV/AIDs professionals has formed The Pleasure Project, which works tirelessly to remind conference goers and others that sexual pleasure is an important part of the equation. At one international conference, the Pleasure Project put up posters in the corridors, asking “Did you have sex with yourself last night?”
Oh yeah… Oh yeah…. dats us (Dance around front room wiggle hips)
To finish off with some words of wisdom – but please read the article here
‘So let us celebrate. Sex is unquestionably necessary; why shouldn’t we be pleased that it is also good?’
