Condom
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| - | :''[[sexual history]], [[birth control]]'' | + | A flexible [[sleeve]] made of [[latex]] or other [[impermeable]] material such as sheepskin, worn over the [[penis]] by males as means of a [[contraceptive]] or as a way to prevent the spread of STDs. |
| - | Probably the oldest methods of contraception (aside from avoiding vaginal intercourse) are ''[[coitus interruptus]]'', lactational, certain [[barrier contraception|barrier methods]], and herbal methods ([[emmenagogue]]s and [[abortifacients]]). | + | ==History== |
| + | ===Before the 19th century=== | ||
| + | Whether condoms were used in ancient civilizations is debated by archaeologists and historians. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, pregnancy prevention was generally seen as a woman's responsibility, and the only well documented contraception methods were female-controlled devices. In Asia before the fifteenth century, some use of [[glans]] condoms (devices covering only the head of the penis) is recorded. Condoms seem to have been used for contraception, and to have been known only by members of the upper classes. In China, glans condoms may have been made of oiled silk paper, or of lamb intestines. In Japan, they were made of tortoise shell or animal horn. | ||
| - | In Russia, to facilitate social equality between men and women, birth control was made readily available. [[Aleksandra Kollontai]] (1872-1952) was the commissar for public welfare during this time, he promoted birth control education for adults as well. When it came to birth control in France, women were working for reproductive rights and they helped end the nation's ban on birth control in 1965. Finally in 1970, in Catholic Italy, feminists won the right to gain access to birth control information. | + | In 16th century Italy, [[Gabriele Falloppio]] wrote a treatise on [[syphilis]]. The earliest documented strain of syphilis, first appearing in a 1490s outbreak, caused severe symptoms and often death within a few months of contracting the disease. Falloppio's treatise is the earliest uncontested description of condom use: it describes linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. The cloths he described were sized to cover the [[Glans penis|glans]] of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon. Falloppio claimed that an experimental trial of the linen sheath demonstrated protection against syphilis. |
| - | Much earlier than this, satirical English author [[Daniel Defoe]] wrote '' [[Conjugal Lewdness]]''. The full original title of this [[1727]] essay was "Conjugal Lewdness or, Matrimonial Whoredom", though he was later asked to rename it for the sake of propriety. The modified title became "A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed". The essay dealt primarily with [[contraception]], comparing it directly with [[infanticide]]. Defoe accomplished this through anecdotes, such as a conversation between two women in which the right-minded chides the other for asking for "recipes" that might prevent pregnancy. In the essay, he further referred to contraception as "the diabolical practice of attempting to prevent childbearing by physical preparations." | + | After this, the use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. The first indication that these devices were used for birth control, rather than disease prevention, is the 1605 theological publication ''De iustitia et iure'' (On justice and law) by Catholic theologian [[Leonardus Lessius]], who condemned them as immoral. In 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of "condons", the first documented use of that word (or any similar spelling). |
| - | ''Coitus interruptus'' (withdrawal of the [[penis]] from the [[vagina]] prior to [[ejaculation]]) probably predates any other form of birth control. This is not a particularly reliable method of contraception, as few men have the self-control to correctly practice the method at every single act of sexual intercourse. Although it is commonly believed that [[pre-ejaculate]] fluid can cause pregnancy, modern research has shown that pre-ejaculate fluid does not contain viable sperm. | + | In addition to linen, condoms during the [[Renaissance]] were made out of intestines and bladder. In the late 15th century, Dutch traders introduced condoms made from "fine leather" to Japan. Unlike the horn condoms used previously, these leather condoms covered the entire penis. |
| - | There are historic records of [[Ancient Egyptians|Egyptian]] women using a [[pessary]] (a vaginal [[suppository]]) made of various [[acid]]ic substances and lubricated with honey or oil, which may have been somewhat effective at killing sperm. However, it is important to note that the sperm [[cell (biology)|cell]] was not discovered until [[Anton van Leeuwenhoek]] invented the [[microscope]] in the late 17th century, so barrier methods employed prior to that time could not know of the details of conception. [[Asia]]n women may have used oiled paper as a [[cervical cap]], and [[Europe]]ans may have used [[beeswax]] for this purpose. The [[condom]] appeared sometime in the 17th century, initially made of a length of animal [[intestine]]. It was not particularly popular, nor as effective as modern [[latex]] condoms, but was employed both as a means of contraception and in the hopes of avoiding [[syphilis]], which was greatly feared and devastating prior to the discovery of [[antibiotic]] drugs. <!-- (''time references and more details pending'') --> | + | From at least the 18th century, condom use was opposed in some legal, religious, and medical circles for essentially the same reasons that are given today: condoms reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, which some thought immoral or undesirable for the nation; they do not provide full protection against sexually transmitted infections, while belief in their protective powers was thought to encourage sexual promiscuity; and they are not used consistently due to inconvenience, expense, or loss of sensation. |
| - | Various [[abortifacients]] have been used throughout human history in attempts to terminate undesired pregnancy. Some of them were effective, some were not; those that were most effective also had major [[Adverse drug reaction|side effects]]. One abortifacient reported to have low levels of side effects—[[silphium]]—was harvested to extinction around the 1st century. | + | Despite some opposition, the condom market grew rapidly. In the 18th century, condoms were available in a variety of qualities and sizes, made from either linen treated with chemicals, or "skin" (bladder or intestine softened by treatment with [[sulfur]] and [[lye]]). They were sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets, and at the theater throughout Europe and Russia. They later spread to America, although in every place there were generally used only by the middle and upper classes, due to both expense and lack of sex education. |
| - | The ingestion of certain [[poison]]s by the female can disrupt the [[reproductive system]]; women have drunk solutions containing [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[arsenic]], or other toxic substances for this purpose. The Greek [[gynaecologist]] [[Soranus (Greek Physician)|Soranus]] in the 2nd century suggested that women drink water that [[blacksmith]]s had used to cool [[metal]]. The herbs [[tansy]] and [[pennyroyal]] are well-known in folklore as [[abortion|abortive]] agents, but these also "work" by poisoning the woman. Levels of the active chemicals in these herbs that will induce a [[miscarriage]] are high enough to perilously damage the [[liver]], [[kidney]]s, and other organs. However, in those times where risk of [[maternal death]] from [[postpartum]] complications was high, the risks and side effects of toxic medicines may have seemed less onerous. Some [[herbal medicine|herbalists]] claim that [[black cohosh]] tea will also be effective in certain cases as an abortifacient. | + | ===1800 through 1920s=== |
| + | The early nineteenth century saw contraceptives promoted to the poorer classes for the first time. Writers on contraception tended to prefer other methods of birth control. Feminists of this time period wanted birth control to be exclusively in the hands of women, and disapproved of male-controlled methods such as the condom. Other writers cited both the expense of condoms and their unreliability (they were often riddled with holes, and often fell off or broke), but they discussed condoms as a good option for some, and as the only contraceptive that also protected from disease. | ||
| - | Aside from abortifacients, herbal contraceptives in folklore have also included a few preventative measures. [[Hibiscus rosa-sinensis]], known in [[Ayurveda]] as a contraceptive, may have antiestrogenic properties. [[Papaya]] seeds, rumored to be a male contraceptive, have recently been studied for their azoospermic effect on monkeys. | + | Many countries passed laws impeding the manufacture and promotion of contraceptives. In spite of these restrictions, condoms were promoted by traveling lecturers and in newspaper advertisements, using euphemisms in places where such ads were illegal. Instructions on how to make condoms at home were distributed in the United States and Europe. Despite social and legal opposition, at the end of the nineteenth century the condom was the Western world's most popular birth control method. |
| - | During the [[Islamic Golden Age|medieval period]], [[Medicine in medieval Islam|physicians in the Islamic world]] listed many birth control substances in their medical encyclopedias. [[Avicenna]] listing 20 in ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' (1025) and [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi]] listing 176 in his ''Hawi'' (10th century). This was unparalleled in European medicine until the 19th century. | + | Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, American rates of sexually transmitted diseases skyrocketed. Causes cited by historians include effects of the [[American Civil War]], and the ignorance of prevention methods promoted by the [[Comstock laws]]. To fight the growing epidemic, sex education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. They generally taught that abstinence was the only way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms were not promoted for disease prevention because the medical community and moral watchdogs considered STDs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. The stigma against victims of these diseases was so great that many hospitals refused to treat people who had syphilis. |
| - | The fact that various effective methods of birth control were known in the ancient world sharply contrasts with a seeming ignorance of these methods in wide segments of the population of early modern [[Christian]] Europe. This ignorance continued far into the 20th century, and was paralleled by eminently high [[birth rate]]s in European countries during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some historians have attributed this to a series of coercive measures enacted by the emerging modern [[Sovereign state|state]], in an effort to repopulate Europe after the population catastrophe of the [[Black Death]], starting in 1348. According to this view, the [[witch hunts]] were the first measure the modern state took in an attempt to eliminate knowledge about birth control within the population, and monopolize it in the hands of state-employed male medical specialists (gynecologists). Prior to the witch hunts, male specialists were unheard of, because birth control was naturally a female domain. | + | The German military was the first to promote condom use among its soldiers, beginning in the later 1800s. Early twentieth century experiments by the American military concluded that providing condoms to soldiers significantly lowered rates of sexually transmitted diseases. During [[World War I]], the United States and (at the beginning of the war only) Britain were the only countries with soldiers in Europe who did not provide condoms and promote their use. |
| - | Presenters at a family planning conference told a tale of [[Arab]] traders inserting small stones into the uteruses of their camels in order to prevent pregnancy, a concept very similar to the modern [[Intrauterine device|IUD]]. Although the story has been repeated as truth, it has no basis in history and was meant only for entertainment purposes. The first interuterine devices (which occupied both the vagina and the uterus) were first marketed around 1900. The first modern intrauterine device (contained entirely in the uterus) was described in a [[Germany|German]] publication in 1909. The [[Gräfenberg ring]], the first IUD that was used by a significant number of women, was introduced in 1928. | + | In the decades after World War I, there remained social and legal obstacles to condom use throughout the U.S. and Europe. Founder of psychoanalysis [[Sigmund Freud]] opposed all methods of birth control on the grounds that their failure rates were too high. Freud was especially opposed to the condom because he thought it cut down on sexual pleasure. Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. In 1920 the Church of England's [[Lambeth Conferences#Sixth Conference (1920)|Lambeth Conference]] condemned all "unnatural means of conception avoidance." London's Bishop [[Arthur Winnington-Ingram]] complained of the huge number of condoms discarded in alleyways and parks, especially after weekends and holidays. |
| - | The [[Calendar-based methods|rhythm method]] was developed in the early 20th century, as researchers discovered that a woman only ovulates once per [[menstrual cycle]]. Not until the 1950s, when scientists better understood the functioning of the menstrual cycle and the [[hormone]]s that controlled it, were methods of [[hormonal contraception]] and modern methods of [[fertility awareness]] (also called [[#Fertility awareness methods|natural family planning]]) developed. | + | However, European militaries continued to provide condoms to their members for disease protection, even in countries where they were illegal for the general population. Through the 1920s, catchy names and slick packaging became an increasingly important marketing technique for many consumer items, including condoms and cigarettes. Quality testing became more common, involving filling each condom with air followed by one of several methods intended to detect loss of pressure. Worldwide, condom sales doubled in the 1920s. |
| - | [[Margaret Sanger]] (1879-1966) was an American birth control activist and the founder of the [[American Birth Control League]] (which eventually became [[Planned Parenthood]]). She was instrumental in opening the way to access birth control. | ||
| - | In 1960 the FDA approved the first form of [[hormonal birth control]], the [[combined oral contraceptive pill]]. | ||
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A flexible sleeve made of latex or other impermeable material such as sheepskin, worn over the penis by males as means of a contraceptive or as a way to prevent the spread of STDs.
History
Before the 19th century
Whether condoms were used in ancient civilizations is debated by archaeologists and historians. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, pregnancy prevention was generally seen as a woman's responsibility, and the only well documented contraception methods were female-controlled devices. In Asia before the fifteenth century, some use of glans condoms (devices covering only the head of the penis) is recorded. Condoms seem to have been used for contraception, and to have been known only by members of the upper classes. In China, glans condoms may have been made of oiled silk paper, or of lamb intestines. In Japan, they were made of tortoise shell or animal horn.
In 16th century Italy, Gabriele Falloppio wrote a treatise on syphilis. The earliest documented strain of syphilis, first appearing in a 1490s outbreak, caused severe symptoms and often death within a few months of contracting the disease. Falloppio's treatise is the earliest uncontested description of condom use: it describes linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. The cloths he described were sized to cover the glans of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon. Falloppio claimed that an experimental trial of the linen sheath demonstrated protection against syphilis.
After this, the use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. The first indication that these devices were used for birth control, rather than disease prevention, is the 1605 theological publication De iustitia et iure (On justice and law) by Catholic theologian Leonardus Lessius, who condemned them as immoral. In 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of "condons", the first documented use of that word (or any similar spelling).
In addition to linen, condoms during the Renaissance were made out of intestines and bladder. In the late 15th century, Dutch traders introduced condoms made from "fine leather" to Japan. Unlike the horn condoms used previously, these leather condoms covered the entire penis.
From at least the 18th century, condom use was opposed in some legal, religious, and medical circles for essentially the same reasons that are given today: condoms reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, which some thought immoral or undesirable for the nation; they do not provide full protection against sexually transmitted infections, while belief in their protective powers was thought to encourage sexual promiscuity; and they are not used consistently due to inconvenience, expense, or loss of sensation.
Despite some opposition, the condom market grew rapidly. In the 18th century, condoms were available in a variety of qualities and sizes, made from either linen treated with chemicals, or "skin" (bladder or intestine softened by treatment with sulfur and lye). They were sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets, and at the theater throughout Europe and Russia. They later spread to America, although in every place there were generally used only by the middle and upper classes, due to both expense and lack of sex education.
1800 through 1920s
The early nineteenth century saw contraceptives promoted to the poorer classes for the first time. Writers on contraception tended to prefer other methods of birth control. Feminists of this time period wanted birth control to be exclusively in the hands of women, and disapproved of male-controlled methods such as the condom. Other writers cited both the expense of condoms and their unreliability (they were often riddled with holes, and often fell off or broke), but they discussed condoms as a good option for some, and as the only contraceptive that also protected from disease.
Many countries passed laws impeding the manufacture and promotion of contraceptives. In spite of these restrictions, condoms were promoted by traveling lecturers and in newspaper advertisements, using euphemisms in places where such ads were illegal. Instructions on how to make condoms at home were distributed in the United States and Europe. Despite social and legal opposition, at the end of the nineteenth century the condom was the Western world's most popular birth control method.
Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, American rates of sexually transmitted diseases skyrocketed. Causes cited by historians include effects of the American Civil War, and the ignorance of prevention methods promoted by the Comstock laws. To fight the growing epidemic, sex education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. They generally taught that abstinence was the only way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms were not promoted for disease prevention because the medical community and moral watchdogs considered STDs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. The stigma against victims of these diseases was so great that many hospitals refused to treat people who had syphilis.
The German military was the first to promote condom use among its soldiers, beginning in the later 1800s. Early twentieth century experiments by the American military concluded that providing condoms to soldiers significantly lowered rates of sexually transmitted diseases. During World War I, the United States and (at the beginning of the war only) Britain were the only countries with soldiers in Europe who did not provide condoms and promote their use.
In the decades after World War I, there remained social and legal obstacles to condom use throughout the U.S. and Europe. Founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud opposed all methods of birth control on the grounds that their failure rates were too high. Freud was especially opposed to the condom because he thought it cut down on sexual pleasure. Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. In 1920 the Church of England's Lambeth Conference condemned all "unnatural means of conception avoidance." London's Bishop Arthur Winnington-Ingram complained of the huge number of condoms discarded in alleyways and parks, especially after weekends and holidays.
However, European militaries continued to provide condoms to their members for disease protection, even in countries where they were illegal for the general population. Through the 1920s, catchy names and slick packaging became an increasingly important marketing technique for many consumer items, including condoms and cigarettes. Quality testing became more common, involving filling each condom with air followed by one of several methods intended to detect loss of pressure. Worldwide, condom sales doubled in the 1920s.
