Bill Gates is most commonly known for being the founder of Microsoft, an inventor, a programmer, a philanthropist and one of the wealthiest men in the world. A phrase that you don’t often hear associated with him, however, is “safe sex.” But that is all about to change with an announcement from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about a competition seeking a new and better condom. They are offering a $100,000 grant to the best idea in order to get it started and into production.
“We are looking for a next generation condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure, in order to improve uptake and regular use.” This statement sums up the goal of the competition and addresses issues with current methods of contraception that have been complained about since 1350 B.C. when the first condom-type contraceptive was documented: everyone seems to hate condoms. An experience that is supposed to be intimate between you and your partner turns into a romp laden with so much rubber that it becomes distracting. In some cases, condoms have been known to lead to an embarrassing loss of blood flow for men, and even allergic reactions for women.
“I don’t think people use them all the time or as much as they should,” said junior sports management major Callie Welch. “They’re annoying to put on and they do not feel as good. I don’t know if they could change the material and not use latex, but that would be nice.”
Despite the drawbacks/excuses that discourage people from using condoms, the fact remains that protection is important. Unexpected pregnancy might seem cool when you are watching “Teen Mom” on MTV, but I imagine a real-life reaction would be quite different. It would probably be closer to how you would respond upon hearing you have AIDS or Herpes—don’t forget condoms protect from these too, in addition to an unwanted fertilized egg in your uterus.
“I know a lot of people think that they don’t need to [wear a condom] because they’ve been tested or they think it feels better, and really they aren’t looking at the big picture,” said sophomore music education major Jeff Dyal. “A lot can happen from not wearing a condom.”
These reasons seem to be the main inspiration behind the competition that Gates has started. If condoms were easier to put on, didn’t decrease stimulation so much and maintained pleasure for both the man and the woman, more people would be using them. There would be less STDs and less unwanted pregnancies. Too often, people find themselves lost in the moment and choose skin over latex without thinking of their future.
“I think if they found a way to increase stimulation, then guys would be more inclined to wear them,” continued Dyal. “Wearing condoms is just overall the smarter thing to do.”
Other than our own pleasure-filled needs, a better condom has the potential to help the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The issues that we have with condoms are not far from the reasons condoms are not being used there. If they were more accessible and easier to use, the hope is that protection would be utilized more often to help prevent the spread of this devastating disease. A part of the extensive goals Gates has for this project is for the prototype to be tested and widely distributed as quickly as possible.
The idea of a new condom is exciting, but when I first heard about it my immediate thought was “how?” The condom seems so simple that an idea beyond what has already been tried out seems impossible to come up with. But then I saw a video of one of the submission ideas: The Origami Condom. This condom is internally lubricated, doesn’t require any unrolling and has a motion that is much closer to that of a male’s actual anatomy during sex (a better description and video can be seen origamicondoms.com). Though initially confused, a side-by-side comparison to a classic condom had me convinced that this could very well be a better option. The Gates have already given this concept public praise.
It will surely be a few more months at least until the winner of this competition is announced and the grant is awarded, but it will be interesting to see what ideas come forth when reinvention of something so basic was never thought possible. Whoever the winner is, Trojan and Durex will surely be scrambling for new ideas after a Gates-endorsed condom hits the shelves of drugstores. The big question is whether or not people will jump on the new product (as well as their partner) or just stick to their old methods.