Practical Question and Answer series
For more questions and answers see the
Q&A Index.
8) Condoms?
I have two answers. One is stock up while you can. However, latex
condoms expire, and petroleum based consumables are only going
to get harder to get, and eventually latex condoms will probably
be difficult to get. Latex production is certainly not sustainable,
though that obviously doesn't stop latex from being made now.
So the other answer is that you can make your own, but not out
of latex. Some of the first condoms were made (and some still
are made) out of animal intestines -- specifically sheep intestines.
Sheep intestines are just effective against pregnancy as latex
condoms. Unfortunately, the sheep intestines have tiny pores which
means that some small infectious organisms, especially viruses
like HIV, can move through. So sheep intestine is not sufficiently
effective against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (Sources:
Association
of Reproductive Health Professionals condom page, Healthwise encyclopedia.)
A nineteenth century recipe for making such condoms reads:
"Take the caecum of the sheep; soak it first
in water, turn it on both sides, then repeat the operation in
a weak ley (solution) of soda, which must be changed every four
or five hours, for five or six successive times; then remove the
mucous membrane with the nail; sulphur, wash in clean water, and
then in soap and water; rinse, inflate and dry. Next cut it to
the required length and attach a piece of ribbon to the open end.
Used to prevent infection or pregnancy." United States Practical
Receipt Book, p. 87 quoted from Reay Tannahill, Sex in History
p. 411. (source)
Anecdotally speaking, prisoners in the US (who are generally
denied access to condoms) have apparently improvised condoms using
available plastic membranes like sandwich wrap. In theory, at
least, it is possible that such an improvised condom could be more effective against STIs than
sheep intestine, but there is no way to determine that for certain.
They could easily be more likely to tear than latex or intestine,
and certainly much less comfortable to use.
Protection against STIs is the main hurdle in improvised condoms,
and if anyone has any suggestions on the subject I'd welcome them.
I'll continue to keep my eyes open for information on the subject.
There are a number of ways to avoid pregnancy without industrially
produced barriers or pharmaceuticals. The Fertility Awareness Method
is a collection of tools that women can use to avoid or encourage
pregnancy. There are a number of books available on the subject,
including the highly recommended Taking
Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth
Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by
Toni Weschler, and also A
Cooperative Method of Natural Birth Control by Margaret Nofziger.
There are also a variety of herbal methods that some women use
in their efforts to avoid pregnancy. The largest and most highly
recommended source information available online is at Sister Zeus, but I don't
know enough about the subject to comment on the methods suggested
there are. (Any thoughts from readers more knowledgeable than
I?)
Update, March 3, 2006: The recent bill to outlaw
abortion in the state of South Dakota has provoked a lot of
information sharing online.
These links are for-your-information, I'm not suggesting that
you use any given technique linked here since many of them could
be quite dangerous. Here is information
on setting up your own DIY abortion clinic along with a lot
of feedback comments. And there are also plenty of links at
Bitch Ph.D. which are being updated as new people get into
the discussion and new articles are posted.
|
Return
to top