If your Twitter feed has been flooded by ads about flavoured condoms, blame an international condom brand that has roped in an army of B-listers to sell its product. One of the gimmicks was a poll among Indian women to find their flavour of choice, and apparently most Indian women want to indulge in some bubblegum flavoured fellatio. Basically, a lot of money was spent by this company to force an unnecessary product down our throats.
While the brouhaha continued, I had a conversation with my gynaecologist about these much-talked about sexual aids. And her take was rather damning.
Flavoured condoms are bad for vaginas
What they do not tell you is how bad this product is for vaginal health. Flavoured condoms are supposed to be used only for fellatio; if you use one for intercourse, the female partner’s chance of getting a yeast infection is rather high.
Vaginas are a delicate universe, and the introduction of sugar into it is an invitation for an infection. Dr Surbhi Desai, resident gynecologist at Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, says that the companies promoting flavoured condoms, without educating about their use, are doing a great disservice to women. After all, flavoured condoms as a product contribute nothing to female pleasure too.
“A lot of people do not know that they are not supposed to be used during penetrative sex, when that happens, yeast infections are inevitable,” said Dr Desai.
What’s the point of a flavoured condom?
A flavoured condom is basically another way to coax a blowjob from a partner with hang-ups about taste and smell of male genitals. Condoms are essential for safe sex, especially to protect yourself from getting STDs, but here is a range of products which actually pose health threats to women.
The market for sexual aids, like chocolate condoms, are unfortunately still focused towards male pleasure. The male equivalent of the same product, a dental dam, is not easily available in India, let alone in a flavoured version. One look at the ads for condoms, will tell you that the market is focused on male pleasure. The protagonist is usually a goodlooking woman, who is exhibited to titilate the male gaze. So ladies, this is a PSA for you. Please do not allow these much hyped products anywhere near your genitals.
