A negotiation?

Yesterday I was reading a post that Diva in Demand wrote about the negotiation of condom use and the high rate of HIV infection in the African American community. The use of negotiation floored me. A negotiation is usually when two parties give up something in order to reach a mutual agreement or benefit. I’m sorry, but condom use should not be negotiated when people choose to partake in sexual intercourse that is not within a committed monogamous relationship. Period. It should be mandatory. HIV is treatable but there is no cure. It breaks down a person’s immune function. That is not something to play with. Then there is HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer, which is largely sexually transmitted.

I don’t understand why some grown, college educated women are running around feeling flattered because the guy they had sex with “offered” to use a condom. I know that some people like to act like having an abortion is like a hair appointment, but I’ve listened to (and read) things that people who used to perform abortions have said about the way those clinics are run, and seeing as I haven’t heard anything about reforms, let’s just say it’s not what folks would like to believe.

All it takes is a few moments for a woman to decide that she is worth more. That her health and life and reproductive health are not subject to negotiation. Sigh.