‘Dry Sex’ – the horrific practice in Africa that has gone previously undiscovered – Cosmopolitan UK
Vice.com have this week exposed the horrific practice of ‘dry sex’.
Unfortunately common in Africa and parts of Indonesia, dry sex involves reducing the moisture inside a woman’s vagina by various means, so that sex will be more pleasurable for the man. It makes the vagina feel tighter and causes more friction, apparently. It’s a painful process of inserting chalk, sponges, sand and even bleach to ‘dry’ themselves out, and is just another violation that is sadly so commonplace among cultures dissimilar from our own.
Due to a distinct lack of sexual education, it is believed that a tight vagina is one that hasn’t been subjected to overuse, where in reality it is understood that – just as humans come in all different shapes and sizes – so do our genitals. But in African and Indonesian cultures, the tighter a vagina is, the more virtuous and innocent a woman is, which is viewed as a positive asset for a woman to have.
It is for this reason that women go to such alarming lengths to make themselves appear tighter, so they appear more desirable to the men of their society. As well as inserting various objects inside themselves as a means of reducing moisture, the women put themselves at serious risk of harm by douching themselves with brasive liquids like detergents, alcohol, antiseptics, and even bleach.
The women use detergents, alcohol, antiseptics and even bleach
Not only does this make the sex itself more painful for a woman, but it can cause internal injuries and increase the likelihood of condoms breaking, which only serves to increase the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
Vice spoke to Dr. Marlene Wasserman, who is known more commonly as the popular Dr. Eve in South Africa, who – as a sexual health clinician – is working to dispel ill-informed myths about sexual health. She believes that the reason the government sheds no light on this practice, which undoubtedly has a role to play in the HIV pandemic, is because it is all to do with the vagina. And having an open and frank discussion about such an intimate part of a woman’s body is likely deemed “too real”; so it is simply ignored.
The answer, Dr. Eve says, is in “educating people and trying to raise awareness.” She recalls:
“The conversation began when we realised HIV was impacting more heterosexual women in South Africa than gay men. There was a drive then to say to women: ‘Don’t put Dettol in your vagina; don’t dry your vagina out. This is dangerous.’ But the conversation hasn’t gotten going, and women are suffering.”
And she confirms that such traditions arise because of misinformation that is passed down between generations. “[The message is] from other women and it’s intergenerational. Men aren’t saying to women, “Put Dettol in your vagina,” but rather they’re saying, “Your vagina’s loose, that means you’re loose, that means you’re a slut, and I’m throwing you away.””
Dr. Wasserman sums it up when she says: “Sex is about pleasure, rights, health, how to make good decisions, how to negotiate, and they’re not getting taught that.” So it’s about time that conversation started, so the people of such cultures can finally get the information and the education they deserve to make the right choices for the benefit of their own health.
