One of the most pressuring problems in the modern healthcare is the issue of AIDS/HIV. The plague of the twentieth century, AIDS/HIV is seizing the planet in its deadly grip at a terrifying rate. Until the remedy is discovered, it is possible to hamper the deadly disease by employing preventive measures, the most popular being condoms. Protecting people from direct contact with sperm, condoms help to prevent the possible contamination through sexual act and are widely accepted in modern western civilization.
However, there is a certain rejection of condom in the more conservative cultures of Asia and Africa, and this unacceptance is based on a number of reasons. While the Asian population finds the reasons against condom use mostly in social constructions of masculinity, the African nations ground their disapproval in religious sentiments, family values, and attitudes to pre-marital sex.
In the patriarchal, mostly men-run oriental society, social constructions of masculinity are of utmost importance for men to preserve their authority and respectable image. Using condoms is associated with several points of weakness, none of which are beneficial to the masculine self-concept. According to the research conducted among the Bangladesh men of different ages and socio-demographic backgrounds, renunciation of condom use results most frequently not so much from personal preferences and beliefs as from the widely-accepted social ideas. For one thing, usage of condoms is associated with reduced physical pleasure and interferes with the phallic concerns of masculine sexuality.
For another thing, condom use is a sign of male promiscuity and does not contribute to a favorable masculine image which is based on pornographic stereotypes of unprotected sex. (Khan, Hudson-Rodd, Saggers, & Bhuiya, 2005)
Oriental ideas on true masculinity oppressed during safe sex are partially shared by the African nations. Thus, among the barriers to condom use in Nigeria, Adegbenga M. Sunmola (2001) reports reduction of sexual satisfaction and interest experienced by the interviewees who used condoms. Moreover, the importance of full-fledged sexual intercourse is emphasized in the Masai culture, where procreation is the main objective of relations among males and females; condoms are simply incompatible with Masai ideal of a large family (Coast, 2003).
In addition to the physical excitement and offspring production issues, the African sample shows a tendency to avoid using condoms for reasons of morality. Explicit mentioning of pre-marital sexual intercourse and sexual intercourse as such is taboo in many African cultures: therefore teenagers and adults prefer not to employ contraceptives in order not to publicize their sexual relations among either the family members or the service providers (Alarape, Olapegba, & Chovwen, 2008).
Association of condom use with promiscuity is not strange to the African culture as well, being one of the key challenges for condom distribution among the population (“Rwanda” 2010). The situation is further aggravated by the dominating Christian religion which preaches abstinence as an only way of preventing HIV contamination and persuades the congregation of the fragility and insecurity of condoms as preventive measures (Marindo, Pearson, & Casterline, 2003).
As it becomes obvious from the research data, condom use perceptions among Asian and African cultures are characterized by both similarities and differences. While the eastern people pay more attention to preserving the traditional masculine image, the African nations also consider religious beliefs, family values and social taboo on open sex discussion as barriers for condom use. In any case, instructive work should be conducted in order equip the population with the knowledge protecting them from the deadly disease.
References
Alarape, A. I., Olapegba, P. O., & Chovwen, C. O.. (2008). Condom use among students: The influence of condom self-efficacy, social norms and affective attitude towards condom. Journal of Social Sciences, 17(3), 237-241. Web.
Coast, E. (2003). Wasting sperm: The cultural context of condom use among the Maasai of Northern Tanzania. Presented at The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Workshop on Taking Stock of the Condom in the Era of HIV/AIDS, University of Botswana. Web.
Khan, S. I., Hudson-Rodd, N., Saggers, S., & Bhuiya, A. (2005). Social construction of condom non-use: Implications for condom promotion interventions in Bangladesh. The Population Reporter, 5(4). Web.
Marindo, R., Pearson, S., & Casterline, J. B. (2003). Condom use and abstinence among unmarried young people in Zimbabwe: Which strategy, whose agenda? The Population Council, 170. Web.
Rwanda: New campaign to boost condom use. (2010). PlusNews. Web.
Sunmola, A.M. (2001). Developing a scale for measuring the barriers to condom use in Nigeria. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 79, 926–932. Web.