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JAPAN - Experts and experienced Japanese women are coming out against the findings of Indian and Spanish researchers that claim French men have, on average, the largest erect penises in the world, according to Shukan Shincho (12/21).
Indian scholars discovered that international standard-sized condoms were too large for many men and that they slipped off at precisely the time they needed to be snugly tight.
Researchers cited the findings of Andromedical, a Spanish company, which found that French men stood erect at an average of 16 centimeters, with Italians at 15 centimeters and Mexicans at 14.9 centimeters. South Koreans' 9.6 centimeters were the shortest recorded, while Indians stood at just 10.2 centimeters. (Japanese, incidentally, measured a healthy 13.0 centimeters to rank 10th of 16 nationalities, surprisingly topping the 12.9 centimeters that Americans recorded).
But before the pride of anybody is harmed, it should be noted that many dispute the Spanish company's survey.
"Penis size differs according to race and nationality," Junya Iwamuro, a urologist and head of the Japan Association for Development of Community Medicine, tells Shukan Shincho. "I must admit the Westerners' penises I have come in contact with have been large and fat and certainly seem to be larger than the Japanese. However, the data suggests that there is a huge gap in size between Japanese and South Koreans. How the original data was obtained is a problem. It doesn't mention age, or the extent of the erection. It's very difficult to get an average figure on an international scale."
Condom manufacturer Okamoto Inc. agrees.
"I doubt there's anywhere that has accurate data and length and thickness," a company spokesman says. "I'd say the most information anybody has comes from the individual medical organizations that have conducted their own independent studies and announced the results."
Experience suggests results considerably different from the study, too. Writer Shimako Iwai -- who claims to have slept with more Korean men than she has with her fellow Japanese men -- says the Asian neighbors both come up short.
"If the South Koreans knew about the results of this survey, they'd say it was a Japanese conspiracy. Speaking from personal experience, there's not a great deal of difference between Japanese and Korean men. I guess it's true to say that South Korean men aren't overly endowed. But there's no difference between them and Japanese men, either," Iwai, as experienced with penmanship as penismanship, tells Shukan Shincho.
Other women also dispute the finding, like the OL who says she has slept with men from over 30 different countries.
"French guys I've slept with have been, like a lot of Japanese, uncircumcised, but I didn't think they were particularly large," she says. "Their peach-colored penises were hard and thick, but they fit perfectly with the Japanese condoms I gave them to use. Apart from the color, they were no different to the Japanese ones. My memories are struggling to breath from all the chest hair that kept hitting me when they were in the missionary position. They were fantastic at sex, though, really concentrating hard. They never leave you alone and are really kinky. The French have got an inordinate interest in anal sex."
The OL, who isn't named in the article, says that Americans left her feeling unsatisfied.
"White American men were my biggest disappointment. I can see why the survey ranked their size below the Japanese. They don't try anything new and barely do any foreplay. They just go through the motions, but then scream out like mad while they're doing it. They'd have to be regarded as pretty useless at sex," she says, forgetting she's supposed to be talking about length, not how it's used. "Basically, I think it's all right to think that Americans are slightly larger than Japanese."
An illustrator who says she has had intimate relationships with 50 foreign men says that the eggheads were looking in the wrong direction.
"I simply cannot believe why there weren't any African countries mentioned toward the top of the list in this survey. Africans are literally 'a head above the rest,' " the illustrator tells Shukan Shincho. "I've slept with African-Americans, Ugandans, Nigerians and South Africans and, while they are not overwhelmingly thicker, they are certainly longer. I can use both hands to grab hold of them and there'll still be some space left at the top. With Japanese, I've got the whole thing covered with a single hand. Africans also have incredible stamina and endurance. No wonder they always win those marathons."
from Mainichi Daily News
Sex is taking place behind bars.
According to Isela Gonzales, an HIV counseling, testing and linkages coordinator with San Francisco County's Department of Public Health, transgendered inmates and gay men admitted to her they'd been sexually solicited.
Gonzales said these inmates told her, "'I'm glad you're distributing condoms.'"
But passing out condoms, a seemingly simple act, is at the heart of a hot-button, controversial issue argued by law enforcement and public health officials.
For now, it's against the law in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed legislation that would have required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to allow non-profits and public health agencies to distribute condoms and dental dams.
Schwarzenegger's veto follows a November report by the Washington, D.C.-based National Minority AIDS Council that recommends condom distribution to inmates to stem the growing epidemic of AIDS in the African-American community.
Blacks are disproportionately represented in state and federal prisons: According to 2005 statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, 40 percent of inmates with a sentence longer than one year were black.
Black men are being hit the hardest. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47 percent of people estimated to be living with HIV at the end of 2003, the last year data were available, were black and 74 percent were male.
"We know that our young men are being infected in prison," said Damon Dozier, director of government relations and public policy at the AIDS Council.
San Francisco County blazes trail
San Francisco County, one of the seven jurisdictions nationally that passes out condoms to inmates, tiptoes around the law by distributing them as part of a safe-sex educational tool, said Kate Monico Klein, the director of the county's Forensic AIDS Project.
Though the jails are not necessarily a hotbed of HIV transmission, Klein said, prevention methods like handing out condoms were critical.
About 2 to 5 percent of the 2,100 inmates in the five county jails are HIV-infected, she said. About 0.4 percent of the general U.S. population is infected.
Health officials began passing out condoms to inmates in 1986.
"We had people in custody who were very high risk," said Eileen Hurst, chief of staff for Sheriff Michael Hennessey.
Still, after more than 20 years, the effectiveness of passing out condoms is difficult to gauge.
"People come in and out of jail," Hurst said. "I would not know when they contracted AIDS or how or what."
CDC study of Georgia prisons
However, a long-term study by the Georgia Department of Corrections and the CDC attempted to get a clearer picture of HIV behind bars. The study found that arriving inmates were four times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population.
Like the jails in San Francisco County, the study determined that HIV transmission in prison was not widespread, but infection and risky behavior, such as homosexual sex, did occur.
The CDC and the American Foundation for AIDS Research support handing out condoms as part of a comprehensive plan for HIV prevention, education and care, said Monica Ruiz, the foundation's acting director for public policy.
"If (condom distribution) can make a dent on the inside," she said, "it can make a bigger dent once they get on the outside."
When released, inmates can then make a habit of practicing safe sex.
California's prisons and jails
Of course, inmates who have sex are violating state law.
"Well, you're breaking the law, so why are we giving you the tool to break the law?" asked Margot Bach, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
Condoms are also not permitted in the state's 18 federal prisons.
"It's obviously not condoned and authorized," said Sandra Hijar, spokeswoman for the Western Regional Office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Many county jails, including those in Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Alameda counties, also ban condoms.
"We don't want to encourage sex between inmates," said Capt. Casey Nice of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
HIV/AIDS rates are based on testing done when inmates request it or when there is a potential health risk. Only two states in the country test inmates for HIV at entry and release.
In Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the HIV rates in the jails are low: about 0.2 percent at the Santa Rita Jail, Alameda County's largest jail, and a little less than 1 percent in Contra Costa County's three facilities, according to public health officials.
Seventy-six inmates were HIV-positive last year in San Joaquin County's facilities, but that number includes the jail, the Juvenile Detention Center and the Deuel Vocational Institution, said Mike Hill, the county's director of disease control and prevention.
At Deuel, an all-male, 3,700-inmate, medium-security facility in Tracy, about 0.3 percent of inmates were known to be HIV-positive, said Lt. Ray Munoz, a public information officer.
Prisoners' opinions on the issue
Three out of four inmates interviewed said condoms should not be passed out, largely because sex was not occurring.
"You would be hard pressed to be a practicing homosexual. You'd be ostracized for that," said Franklin, 45, a black man who would not give his last name.
Franklin said he was initially afraid of contracting HIV while in prison, but he soon learned that most prisoners at Deuel were focused on one agenda — getting home as quickly as possible.
However, Justice Campbell, 25, an African-American transgendered person who identifies as a woman, said, "There's sex going on in all prisons."
Campbell said the other three inmates may not have been honest about that because prison officials were present during interviews.
from The Oakland Tribune / Cheryl Winkelman
Buy a condom other than one made by Trojan, and there's a good chance it was tested by Family Health International.
The Durham-based nonprofit group, founded in 1971 to improve family planning around the world, has tested more than 1 billion condoms. That includes all condoms handed out by the U.S. Agency for International Development to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and most condoms imported to the U.S. FHI does not test Trojans because they are made and packaged in the United States.
FHI operates in 78 countries. Last year, the organization spent $224 million, mostly on HIV/AIDS research, prevention and care, family planning education and contraception research.
Quality control of condoms is one of the tasks FHI performs. Test labs are spread around the globe.
Wake Tech student Ethan Jackson works at the one in Durham, where 24 lab technicians test batches of 315 at a time. Each batch represents a manufacturer's brand.
The rigorous tests assess the labeling and packaging, durability, length, thickness and the amount of lubricant. Technicians also fill condoms with water to find and mark holes.
The technicians make sure all condoms are tested under the same conditions and results are logged in a consistent manner.
Test results are reported to the manufacturers.
When Jackson first learned about FHI's quality control tests, he said his first response was, "Get outta here." It's a reaction a lot of people have when they find out what he does. Not everybody finds out, Jackson said.
"If you ask me what I do and I know you, I flat- out tell you 'I test condoms,' " he said. "If I don't know you, I'll say 'I test contraceptives.' I don't want to make people I just met uncomfortable."
from The News & Observer
NEW DELHI, INDIA - The ad campaign promoting XXX Flavoured Condoms, with the catchline "what is your flavour of the night", has fallen foul of both the Advertising Standards Council of India and the Censor Board.
While ASCI has asked DKT India, the company promoting the condoms, to produce the ad films for a fresh review, Censor Board chairman Sharmila Tagore has asked I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and I&B secretary S K Arora to immediately stop the ad from being aired during the day and between the ongoing Champions Trophy cricket matches.
Calling the ad "offensive" and "not meant for unrestricted viewing", Tagore, who is an AIDS activist and UNICEF goodwill ambassador, told TOI, "The campaign is not in good taste."
She added, "It is not in my purview to ban the ad. But if it was, I would have done so immediately. The ad is being telecast during the Champions Trophy matches, which are watched by everybody, including children. Everybody is complaining, asking me how such an ad can be allowed to run."
Asserting that she was not against condom usage, Tagore said, "Condom use is most important. Even the Censor Board has certified several condom ads which have a message and will help India's fight against HIV/AIDS. But this campaign is obscene. Maybe DKT's target audience is raunchy teenagers. But the ads are definitely not meant for children. The ad runs could have been planned around 11 pm and after, when tv is watched by adults. But we found the ad running even at 6.45pm on DD and I&B ministry must act on it urgently. Maybe the ads should be run only in movie halls with 'A' certification."
Reacting to the complaints, Sutosi Batliwala, gm (marketing) of DKT India, told TOI that the idea behind promoting the flavours was not to promote oral sex but to encourage those couples who are repulsed by the smell of latex.
"We have received queries from ASCI. We have proper DD approval to run the ads. We wanted to use cricket as a vehicle to promote condom usage," Batliwala said.
from The Times Of India
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - In Stockton 15-year-old Curtis Johnson learned about it from watching movies.
Ruben Alvarez III, 18, discovered a lot from friends growing up in Manteca.
And 13-year-old Danielle Gibson? The Stockton girl knows what she knows from embarrassing talks with her mother.
Most kids know about sex. Some learn about it in the classroom, where state and school district rules have adults keeping keen watch on what’s being taught. In San Joaquin County, condoms aren’t available on school grounds, because many parents say distributing contraceptives is like giving kids the OK to have sex.
Delta Health Care, however, has found a way around the rule.
Dawn Keithley, health educator and outreach coordinator for Delta, said part of her job is making sure teens have access to the information and contraception they need. When she’s at a school talking with kids, no condoms change hands.
But when the final school bell rings, Keithley simply walks to a nearby business, a big, pink bag full of condoms in tow. One by one, teens in the know make their way across the street to get contraception forbidden on campus.
Sometimes, Keithley will inform teens on MySpace.com that she will be at a local concert with “the big, pink bag.” Word travels quickly among teens who would otherwise not purchase condoms out of embarrassment or fear their parents would learn they’re sexually active. The health educator is unabashed about what she does and doesn’t see it as breaking school rules.
“It’s part of my job in outreach,” she says, “to go places where kids are and give them what they need.”
There is no age limit in California on condom sales.
California Education Code requires schools to begin lessons on abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy prevention in seventh grade. At least once in middle school and once in high school, all students must learn about HIV/AIDS risk and prevention.
Providing contraceptive devices is not part of the state requirement, nor is it directly in defiance of the Education Code. Schools in Stockton and Lodi, however, prohibit condom distribution on school grounds.
“Staff are not carrying contraceptives to give to students,” said Odie Douglas, Associate Superintendent for Lodi Unified School District. “It’s against our practice. That’s not something we’re doing at all.”
Delta, which recently announced it would close its Stockton clinic, has education centers at Stagg and Edison high schools. There Delta staff supplement regular sex-education classes by giving presentations on self-esteem, communication and how to refuse partners who may be pressuring them into having sex.
That kind of instruction is in accordance with Stockton Unified School District board policy, facilitator Deanna Staggs said.
“It’s taking it beyond anatomy and physiology,” Staggs added. “The schools teach them how the body works; we take that a step further by giving them decision-making skills.”
Ruben Alvarez Sr. said he’s not sure he would want condoms available in school bathrooms or where kids could simply take them. He would be open, however, to a qualified adult, counselor or licensed nurse distributing them in an educational environment.
His wife, Rosemarie, a Manteca labor and delivery nurse, said she’s seen enough teen mothers to know most kids aren’t practicing the abstinence taught in schools. Their son, Ruben III, said teens are more than aware of how and where to get condoms and contraception on their own, regardless of availability on campus.
Whether giving kids condoms is consenting to teen sex is a dilemma for both parents and school districts, said Robert Brownell, a psychologist’s assistant at Kaiser Permanente.
Brownell helps run the Parent Project, a support program for parents of behaviorally at-risk youths. When it comes to sex education, he adds, adults need to be consistent with the messages they’re giving their teens so youths aren’t learning misinformation somewhere else.
“Sexuality in general is a part of everybody’s life,” he said. “As teens get older, you need to open the door to that conversation.”
Stockton mother Veronica Gibson didn’t let the fact that daughter Danielle was only in eighth grade keep her from talking openly about boys, dating and sexuality. It was uncomfortable, Danielle admitted with a smile lined in braces, but when she sees friends dating, she’s glad she was schooled.
“You do that if you don’t know,” she said of her classmates at Fremont Middle School. “Since I know, it’s scary.”
from The Record
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - MU Chancellor Brady Deaton has called a halt to a plan to distribute free condoms in MU residence halls.
Rejection of the plan came in a statement issued by the MU News Bureau on Tuesday. As recently as last week, campus officials were looking into types of containers to put in dormitory bathrooms to hold condoms for distribution, and an organizer said arrangements were being made for the Columbia/Boone County Health Department to provide 50,000 condoms.
MU spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken said condoms will continue to be available for free at the MU Student Health Center, the Women’s Center and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.
“The chancellor decided not to implement the initiative to distribute condoms in the residence halls, but rather we will continue our current education programs for students,” Banken said.
Free condom distribution in MU residence halls was an initiative first proposed by Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and had the support of MU Residential Life and the Sexual Health Advocate Peer Education program, also known as SHAPE. After the chancellor’s announcement Tuesday, Susan Even, director of the health center, said the program had the support of campus health professionals.
Educational materials, which were to include posters next to condom baskets and wallet-sized packets with information on the appropriate ways to use condoms, had been prepared by the health education program within the health center.
Christopher Keller, president of Phi Beta Sigma, said the plan was to put 75 to 200 condoms in the 150 to 175 residence hall bathrooms, which the Residential Life custodial staff would be responsible for maintaining. He also said that depending on the program’s success, the fraternity might raise funds later in the semester for dental dams, a protective measure for oral sex, which the Health Department wouldn’t provide because they haven’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for prevention.
In response to the chancellor’s decision, Keller said that he is contacting other campus student organizations and plans to draw up a petition to demonstrate student support for condom distribution in residence halls.
“I’m disappointed at the fact that they are ignoring an issue that a lot of people are behind,” Keller said. “... We were making sure that it offered every aspect from simple protection to educational material. ... We included information on abstinence to information for other universities to look at and say, ‘This is something we want to pursue.’ We didn’t say, ‘Hey, let’s just throw some condoms around.’”
Keller added that he was frustrated that the chancellor’s office didn’t contact his fraternity to discuss the decision to halt the distribution program.
Banken said that MU received both positive and negative feedback about the plan. She said the difference of opinions was one reason that Deaton said future dialogue is necessary. She added that the chancellor commends students for coming up with “creative ideas” such as the distribution of condoms in residence halls, but felt there was the need for “more open dialogue” about ways to “educate and inform students about health-related topics” such as unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
The plan for distribution of condoms in residence halls was the result of an informal survey by Phi Beta Sigma of 50 females and 50 males. Heather Mueller of the health center and curriculum coordinator of SHAPE said the survey results showed that minorities tend to be more embarrassed about getting condoms on campus.
“It wasn’t a scientifically driven thing,” she said. “They kind of informally asked people within their fraternity and other fraternities about why minorities are more at risk.”
Mueller also conducted a survey in fall 2005 with a random sample of 6,000 students. The survey indicated that 30 percent of the students asked were embarrassed to purchase condoms.
In an interview before the initiative was stopped, Bill Monroe, regional HIV counseling and testing coordinator, said that easy access to condoms helps prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
“Studies have shown that availability doesn’t increase sexual behavior,” he said. “It’s going to happen with condoms or not, so it’s better to have them available.”
from The Missourian
An unusual scheme operating in Broome, in northern Western Australia, to curb sexually transmitted infections, could be expanded to the Pilbara in the state's north-west.
Broome health authorities have been experimenting with 'condom trees' to try to reduce the Kimberley's disease rates - the highest in the country.
Public health nurse Karen Lynch says there has been considerable interest in the scheme from the regional sexual health team in the Pilbara where infection rates are also substantial.
She says more than 4,000 condoms have been taken from canisters hanging from trees in public places around Broome since a trial started six months ago.
"With the condom tree really what we were providing was availability and accessibility to free condom trees 24/7 in private locations where people can feel comfortable in accessing condoms," she said.
from ABC News
JAPAN - Experts and experienced Japanese women are coming out against the findings of Indian and Spanish researchers that claim French men have, on average, the largest erect penises in the world, according to Shukan Shincho (12/21).
