C is for Condom - a podcast by Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey - A to Z of Sex

C is for Condom
 Welcome to the A to Z of Sex. I’m Dr Lori Beth and I am your host.  We are working our way through the erotic alphabet one letter at a time.  Just a reminder this podcast deals with adult content, so if you don’t have total privacy, you might want to put on your headphones.  Today the letter is C and C is for Condom. 
 This week – the history of the condom.  There are two cave paintings in France from 11,000 BC that scientists believe illustrate the first evidence of condoms.  Having looked at the illustrations it is unclear to me as to why they believe that.    Around 1,000 BC, the Egyptians used a linen sheath around the penis to prevent insect bites and tropical diseases.  The Chinese used oiled silk paper and the Japanese used leather and tortoiseshell sheaths.  The Romans developed condoms made of goat’s bladders.    None of this is terribly appealing…
 In the 1400’s in China and Japan, condoms first began to be used for birth control and to protect against infection.  Safe sex was understood even back then.  It is amazing that we still have trouble engaging people in safe sex given how long we have known how to engage in it!    The Chinese favoured silk and lamb’s intestines.  The Japanese favoured horn and tortoiseshell which seems tremendously uncomfortable to me!
 In the 1500’s Gabrielle Fallopius invented a chemical soaked linen sheath to prevent the spread of syphilis.  It was tied with a ribbon around the shaft of the penis.  He conducted the first research that proved that condoms prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections.  The study had 1100 participants and used the linen condoms he invented.    None of the people who used these contracted syphilis.
 By the time we reached the 1700’s, the use of condoms for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is more widely known but now there is controversy as to whether or not they work.  Some people believe that the availability of condoms encourages people to have more sex with more partners and so encourages immorality.    During this time period, condoms became available in pubs and markets and were either made of intestines or bladder and soaked in lye or sulphur or made of linen and soaked in chemicals.
 In the 1800’s members of parliament in the UK tried to get condoms banned because they didn’t do enough to prevent syphilis and encouraged lots of sex.   The first rubber condom arrived in 1855.  Rubber condoms were reusable so saved money in the long run but they were individually fitted.  Despite this, they often fell off because they only covered the glans of the penis.  Skin condoms were still cheaper.
 In the 1900’s, lots of development occurred primarily because the military began to issue soldiers with condoms to prevent STI’s.  In the late 1920’s latex was invented, and the first latex condoms appeared.  But early latex condoms were not very effective at all – many leaked.  As a result, the FDA in the US decided that a condom was a drug so that every condom had to be tested.  In 1957, Durex created the first condom with lubrication.  When condoms were found to prevent the spread of HIV, sales increased dramatically.  Condoms remain the mainstay of safe sex.
 Modern condoms are made of a variety of materials including natural latex, polyurethane, A-10 resin, and lambs intestines.  Latex are the most flexible however some people have allergies and they cannot be used with oil based lubricants.  Polyurethane has the disadvantage of being less elastic than latex and are more likely to slip or break than latex, but they can be used with oil based lubricants. Polyisoprene is a synthetic version of natural rubber latex.  It has the advantage of being softer and more elastic like latex but without the protein that causes latex allergies.  It transmits body heat well.  But it cannot be used with oil based lubricants.
 Lambskin are said to feel more natural, but they...

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