A slogan seen plastered across many D.C. Metro stations, “Get Wrapped Up in the Moment,” is no innocuous advertisement, but instead a catchphrase adopted by the D.C. Department of Health for its new condom awareness push.
The “Rubber Revolution” campaign launched last week to promote safer sex by encouraging residents to use condoms. The initiative makes use of a website, Twitter and Metro ads with taglines like, “A Condom Fits Any Head,” to combat possible stigmatization of condom use, according to a DOH press release. It will also distribute condoms and educational materials about the benefits of condom use at health clinics and through the mail.
“The Rubber Revolution aims to encourage sexually active people to always use condoms and engage community and business partners to support condom use,” Mayor Adrian Fenty said, according to the DOH website. “The District is proud of its aggressive approach to address this issue.”
The “Rubber Revolution” is part of the DOH’s effort to fight sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. The District has a 3.2 percent HIV rate – the highest incidence of HIV in the country – but between 40 and 70 percent of D.C. residents do not use condoms regularly, according to the DOH website. The DOH hopes that promoting condom usage will lead to decreased rates of infection.
“Condoms are 95 percent effective in blocking the transmission of HIV and STDs, but they are 0 percent effective if people don’t use them,” DOH Director Pierre Vigilance said on the DOH website.
But rather than touting health benefits, the campaign focuses on making condom usage seem cool.
“Today is the day that you join the Rubber Revolution, a new movement in D.C. to take condoms out of hiding. We want to get those rubbers out of your wallet [.] to use for responsible and good sex,” the website says on its main page.
H*yas for Choice Vice President Morgan McDaniel (SFS ’13) said that she thought the new campaign held promise for increasing condom use.
“They’re trying to make [use of condoms] seem cool and hip,” she said. “I hope it’ll make condoms seem more accessible and [that they’ll] willing to participate. I applaud the city for that effort.”
Not all students are as optimistic as Rubber Revolution representatives about the new campaign, however. President of the Georgetown AIDS Coalition Rick Kelley (SFS ’11) said that the new campaign could be the result of failed efforts.
“There were a lot of gimmicks in order to get people to register for free condoms,” he said. “It doesn’t really seem geared towards [education], but they’ve been educating kids in schools for years, and the statistics aren’t getting any better, so I guess they’ve got to find a new way.”
Some more conservative Georgetown students said they had doubts about the “Rubber Revolution.” Kieran Raval (COL ’13), a member of GU Right to Life, opposed the campaign because of its social and religious implications.
“The approach of the campaign is at best immature, but more closely it is offensive to basic decency. A man can’t even take his family on the Metro without facing a barrage of slogans [that are] simply offensive,” Raval said.
Raval also deferred to the Catholic Church’s stance in forming his
opinion.
“This campaign does much to promote what Pope Benedict calls `a banalization of sexuality,'” he said. “It is deplorable that this campaign has such a low view of man’s dignity and nature.”
However, Pope Benedict XVI said in an interview on Saturday published in the soon-to-be-released book, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times,” that condoms may be acceptable in some cases, including for the prevention of HIV.
“I think this is an important concession on the part of the pope,” McDaniel said. “It’s encouraging in that it shows a greater awareness of the social justice aspect of contraception and safe sex.”
Kelley said he thought that the pope’s statement would encourage dialogue about the Catholic stance on condom use.
“I’m really excited about [the Pope’s comments],” Kelley said. “I hope it can promote greater discussion on campus.”
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