Ever since I came to the Academy, I was always shocked with how taboo of a subject sex was. Now wait a minute, this is a place where we've got some of America's smartest, most well-rounded students. So why is this such an issue? Wouldn't it make sense that these students would be more mature about the subject?
Now don't get me wrong. This isn't at all meant to be a bash on cadets. In fact, I somewhat think that it's not really our fault. However, I do think it falls on us very much to remedy this issue and take an active role against allowing sex to become such a taboo topic.
One danger involved with a culture that shames sex is disrespect among peers. Regardless of your personal sexual choices (waiting for marriage, not waiting, partaking in group sex, etc.), orientation, and preferences, it's important to respect other people's sexuality. (Which by the way, doesn't affect you unless you are having sex with that person, so there's no need to obsess over anyone's sexual exploits, because quite frankly it's creepy to take such an interest when it doesn't involve you.) Someone else's sexual activity shouldn't be a topic that you feel the need to discuss or ridicule. You should really only be concerned with your own sexual exploits.
The next danger involves a rule that we have "no sex in the dorms....or else." This promotes unhealthy sexual habits. Assuming that most people follow this rule, that means many college age students at the Academy don't have healthy sex lives. Saying that you'll be in trouble for having sex promotes negative feelings about sexual behavior. Like having sex is bad and must be punished. This isn't good because it makes people even more unwilling to talk about sex. Problems arise when it comes to health issues among other things. The doctor asks "have you been sexually active?" or "how many sexual partners have you had?" or "what sexual activities have you partaken in?" and then the patient becomes embarrassed to answer the questions or even lies. See the issue here? That info could actually be important to what health problems the patient is experiencing. For example, they could have an STD, or bruised/scraped insides, or maybe a UTI from oral sex. There are ways to prevent these things, but if your doctor doesn't know that you got them from sexual activity, they can't recommend ways to prevent these things from happening in the future.
One of the most appalling dangers that I have seen is lack of sexual knowledge. Wait....what? That's exactly how it sounds. In cultures that consider sexual activity taboo, the education on sex sucks. For some reason we just don't want to talk about it. But if you really think college students are all going to be abstinent, you are out of your mind. The Air Force Academy ranked 139th out of 140 Universities in Trojan's sexual health report card in 2011 and has since been taken off the list. That means that cadets don't really know a lot about sexual health. Most people don't realize that we have resources at the clinic! Also, public health is super willing to answer any questions you have about sex. But I think cadets don't go out of their way to talk to healthcare because 1. they're embarrassed because we live in a condensed area that says sex is bad, 2. they don't know we have these resources and it doesn't get advertised because we don't talk about sex at the Academy.
But this is so important!! Cadets need to be educated on sex. Most of my friends didn't know that you can get STD's by mouth, not just by anal or vaginal intercourse. Also most STD's can be asymptomatic, which means that YOU WON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ONE. Whether you're a guy or girl, if you have sex with someone without a condom, you should be getting screened for STD's at least once a year. Let me reiterate....EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE SYMPTOMS, YOU CAN STILL HAVE AN STD. All you have to do is go to the clinic and pee in a cup. And if you think this isn't a huge problem at the Academy, the next time you go to the clinic, ask your doctor roughly how many cadets test positive for chlamydia. You might be surprised.
Moral of the story: don't make sex a taboo topic. Sex is natural human drive and function and we should talk about it. We should educate ourselves. Even if you are abstaining from sex, talking about it and learning about the complexity of it is still important because chances are you will one day be married and have sex with your partner OR maybe you won't be married, it's your choice. But regardless of the circumstances, being educated on the topic is important. I encourage anyone, especially cadets to ask questions, do research, visit the clinic, and take an active role in fighting the taboo. We all do it (or will do it one day if we so choose), so why do we shy away from talking about it? There's not a good reason. So GET UNCOMFORTABLE and EDUCATE YOURSELF!
If you want to learn about STD's and sexual health, look at the links below! :)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs110/en...
http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/sexual-health/
