My best friend and I have never had a problem talking about sex and anything that goes along with that topic. We are probably more open with each other than other friends I know who admit they rarely broach the subject of sex with their BFFs. Now, gabbing on the phone with my best friend about sex and protection is one thing, but if you asked me to have that conversation with complete strangers, I think I might run the other way. But there are some safe sex advocates like Charlene Cotton who spends her weeks opening the conversation with women on the street by saying, “Come check out my table. Don’t be scared.” The table she speaks of is covered with bowls of flavored condoms.

Once the brave and unsuspecting female pedestrian walks over to Cotton’s table, Cotton asks, “Have you heard of the female condom?” Using anatomically correct models and condoms, she proceeds to show the woman how the female condom works. Cotton is just one of many safe sex advocates in the D.C. area that is strongly advocating the female condom in order to stop HIV from spreading. D.C. is home to one of the highest HIV rates in the entire nation. As it is, there are several community-based groups that are having “lessons” in public venues like restaurants and churches in order to distribute half a million female condoms and show women how to use them.

D.C.-based CVS stores actually have these female condoms on their shelves. This is the only place in the nation where women can buy these condoms without having to visit a health clinic. The local government is also pulling out all the stops by initiating a marketing campaign for female condoms with a new website and posters to be placed on close to 500 buses. These advertisements show a man and woman hugging and a female condom in the foreground with the words, “Get turned on to it. The female condom with pleasure points for her and him – to tease, please and protect. Go on, give it a try.”

Mary Ann Leeper of Female Health Co. is leading the initiative to popularize the female condom. She states, “Everybody is doing a full-court press.” What remains to be seen is if having a larger distribution of these types of condoms will mean that more women choose to use these types of condoms. This is vital considering a study done one year ago showed that approximately 3% of the population in D.C. is infected with HIV/AIDS. One issue is that the female condom is not as cheap as a regular male condom. In addition, the majority of women have no experience using a female condoms and may feel uncomfortable about using one for the first time. Manufacturers of female condoms have a compelling argument as to why more people should use them. They are as effective as male condoms in terms of preventing unwanted pregnancies and protecting against sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, the female condom covers a larger area of the genitals so it actually provides better protection. More importantly, it puts control in a woman’s hands. Dr. Nnemdi Kamanu Elias from the Department of Health states, “We’re hoping that this will just be part of their arsenal. It’s something they themselves can initiate and they themselves have control over.”

I am old enough that I remember the huge uproar that happened when television’s “Murphy Brown” became a single mother. I wasn’t old enough to see the big deal because I was still in high school and I knew a number of girls who already had babies and seemed to be doing okay being single moms. I also wasn’t a mom myself so I had no frame of reference. I can distinctly remember thinking, “Raising a baby alone? How hard could that really be?” I say this now and am slowly realizing how I have forced my husband to go out and get groceries we do not really need so that he could take the kids and I could have 45 minutes of peace to write and actually have a teensy weensy bit of peace….and a margarita. According to a recent government survey, these days more and more teenagers are feeling it is okay for a single mom to have a baby. Thinking back to my own mindset almost twenty years ago, it makes some sense to me.

Results from the survey show that teenage girls have admitted to using the rhythm method (knowing one’s days of fertility and avoiding sex on those days) for birth control as opposed to other birth control alternatives like condoms or birth control pills. These results may provide an explanation as to why the teenage pregnancy rate has ceased to decline. Generally, however, results from this recent survey matched up to results from a similar survey done almost ten years ago. This survey was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and had a few differences with the survey done in 2002. For example, approximately 17% of teenage girls admitted to regularly using the rhythm method as a means of birth control. That number is up about 11% from the survey done in 2002.

While these girls who admitted to using the rhythm method may also have used other forms of contraception at the time, the fact that teenaged girls are relying on this method makes for some very worried parents and researchers. According to Joyce Abma, the lead author of the report, the rhythm method is only effective about 75% of the time.
The survey had close to 3,000 female participants between the ages of 15 and 19. All participants were interviewed in their homes and the survey spanned from 2006 to 2008. Results showed that over 40% of these girls who had never been married had at least one sexual encounter in their lives. Of this 40%, approximately 98% of them stated they used a method of birth control at least one time; the most popular choice of contraception was condoms.

Some researchers feel that the fact that so many teenaged girls admitted to using the rhythm method as a form of birth control may be directly related to the fluctuating teenage birth rates. A spokesperson from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Bill Albert, stated, “We’ve known the decline in childbearing stalled out. This report kind of fills in the why.” The report also suggests that teenaged girls attitudes about pregnancy and sex may also be a large reason as to why the birth rate is fluctuating. For instance, close to 65% of teenaged boys felt it was okay for an unwed girl to have a baby. Close to 70% of teenaged girls agreed with this sentiment.

For some insane reason, my husband records “The View”. Yes, you heard me right. My husband. I never quite pinpointed why he suddenly started watching this daytime talk show. Was it because he thought I wanted to watch it when I got home from work? Does he have a secret crush on Whoopi or, gasp, Elizabeth Hasselbeck? Perhaps he is the one man in the universe who loves to hear a group of women get catty with each other on a daily basis about hot topics. Whatever the reason, I found myself watching it the other day and became intrigued when I heard mention of a clothing store I love to frequent: Forever 21. Inexpensive and cute clothes for teens, twenty-somethings and those thirty-somethings like me that like to pretend I am still twenty-something. The topic on “The View” was that recently, Forever 21 announced that it would start selling maternity clothes in five states, three of which boast some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the entire nation.

If you have never heard of Forever 21 before, this store offers hip and fashionable clothing virtually straight off the runway for very affordable prices. Naturally, to do this, the clothing is not of the highest quality but it is nice enough to wear a few times. For this very reason, both times I was pregnant, I headed to the Forever 21 at our mall and bought as many extra-large cute shirts I could get my hands on. After all, I only needed the shirts to last through the last few fat months of my pregnancy and most of the shirts were stretchy enough to keep my belly under wraps. So it comes as no surprise that when I heard Forever 21 announcing their pregnancy line I was a little annoyed only because my husband and I have pretty much decided we already had all the kids we are going to have and I will not be able to personally partake in their new maternity line.

I was not at all surprised to hear Joy, Whoopi and Elizabeth discuss the instant backlash that Forever 21 received with this new announcement. Many parents and conservatives were appalled that a store that markets highly towards the teen population would have the audacity to promote a maternity line, and, thus (in their minds) teen pregnancy. Many critics felt Forever 21 was glamorizing teenage pregnancy with their hip maternity tops and dresses. If I can give my opinion here, I think that is a bunch of baloney. And you know what? So does Elizabeth Hasselbeck (I think this could very well be the only time I will agree with anything Ms. Hasselbeck has to say). Sure, Forever 21 has a high teenage market but every single time I have shopped there, I have seen just as many women my age shopping there. Why shouldn’t Forever 21 get their mittens on a piece of the maternity line pie? Have any of you ever gone to stores that sell ONLY maternity clothes? It is sheer highway robbery. Maternity clothes are not an investment (unless you are from the Duggar family); you buy them, wear them once or twice and then give them to your friends who get pregnant after you. There is no need to spend $85 on a maternity tank when you can head to Forever 21 and get one there for five or ten bucks. Bottom line: if parents are worried that Forever 21 is glamorizing pregnancy enough to make their teenage daughters run out and get pregnant, then those parents may want to worry less about a clothing store and more about the values they are instilling in their children.