ACRIA’s Social Media/Digital Campaign
In a world where we don’t talk about sex seriously very often, especially older adults having sex, this bears repeating. Age is Not a Condom.
Many people think condoms are just for pregnancy prevention – and they are great for pregnancy prevention when used consistently and correctly – but if someone has gone through menopause, they might think they don’t need to use a condom anymore. And yet, if someone is having sexual contact with another person, they could be exposed to an STI, which can lead to serious negative health outcomes.
Because of several factors, older adults are not asked about their sex lives, and many have low perceived risk of the sexual behaviors they are engaging in. As a society, we don’t talk a lot about older adults having sex because of ageism. Ageism is a bias against people based on their age and when it comes to older adults, many people want to picture them as de-sexualized grandmas or pawpaws with a cardigan sweater and glasses. But plenty of older adults are getting down with each other.
So, we like to say “Age is Not a Condom” because it reminds people that many older adults are engaging in sexual activity – and having a great time doing so, we hope! And, that it is still important to think about prevention of STIs and getting regularly tested.
For more information, you can stop by GMHC or look up how to get free condoms through NYC. There’s also PrEP – which is a medication regimen that reduces the risk of HIV infection – and doxyPEP – which is a medication regimen taken after a sexual act to reduce the risk of acquiring a bacterial STI (like syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia).
Also, talk to your provider about your sexual activity and, if they don’t know what to say, send them to ACRIA for training! Have them email [email protected] so that we can help them serve you better!
If you are a provider or consumer, we’d also like to hear your feedback about how we can make things better. We’ll be launching the full media toolkit in the coming months.