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Consumer Reports does condoms
January 08, 2005
In the February edition of Consumer Reports there is a pretty extensive report on condoms. Go here for the online version – the print version has several good charts and graphs with an elaborate rating system and is well worth checking out.
Some of my favorite condoms were in the top five – and they are more than worth mentioning here: TheyFit condoms, which you can get through Condomania.com. These condoms are custom made in 55 different sizes: you get a measuring kit and a set of instructions, send in your measurements (which are coded like ZC76 instead of with size names like Teensy Prick or Bendy Cock-o-Weirdness). The result is a perfectly fit condom that is also one of the best condoms on the market, according to Consumer Reports.
One of the interesting things about the CR evaluation is that of the 23 condoms they evaluated, the Planned Parenthood honeydew flavored condoms came in dead last. Because the condom rating thing became the subject of conversation at a party Jane and I were at last night (a party at which sex people and pervs were in the minority, mind you), I had the distinct pleasure of arguing in support of the Planned Parenthood condoms using my personal experience (yes, I know, highly unscientific): “I don’t know, I’ve gotten those honeydew condoms in bulk, and last year I used about 300 of them, and I never had a problem with breakage.” A little bit of silence. Then Jane laughed and said, “And let me tell you, she gives them a rigorous workout.” We’re hilarious. And slutty.
The best thing about the Consumer Reports study, other than the mere fact of its existence, was one of the sidebars about our esteemed (cough cough) government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the lovely wording around safer sex on their website. In short, the CDC fact sheet on condoms used to start out with the sentence “Condoms are effective in preventing HIV and other STDs” but in 2002 this fact sheet was replaced with one beginning with the phrase “The surest way to avoid transmission of sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain from sexual intercourse… or be in a long-term monogamous relationship with someone whom you know is not infected.” Right. So the CDC is pushing the Bush agenda under the guise of good science. Thinking person, beware.
Posted by Dacia at January 8, 2005 10:57 PM
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