Build a Better Rubber, They will Come? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will grant $100k to the inventor of the next generation condom.
Condoms have been around for 400 years, with very little improvements over the last 50 years, according to Grand Challenges in Global Health, a research foundation established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – the one that funded a new kind of toilet.
To bring the condom into the 21st century, Global Health is offering the grant to anyone who can develop the best “testable hypothesis” for a condom that can preserve or enhance pleasure. “The primary drawback from the male perspective,” they state is that, “condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse.”
Will this improve the use of condoms in the Middle East, an area that traditionally has shunned the sheath?
According to some reports, condom use in the Middle East is lower than any other region in the world. Worldmapper writes: “Of all the older boys and younger men in the world, 47% report to have used a condom at the last time of high-risk sex. The region with the highest condom use is North America, at 63.5%. The lowest condom use is in the Middle East at 36.8%.” The authors acknowlege that reporting biases make it challenging for researchers to study condom use, particularily with ‘high-risk’ sex acts. High risk sex is define as intercourse with someone a man does not live with or is married to.
An improved condom will do more than make protected sex feel better for men. Condom discomfort is one of the reasons that men and women opt not to use them. Other concerns, especially for women, can include physical irritation, drying, unpleasant smells and taste sensations, suggests Amanda Hess in a Slates article.
We’ve previously reported on the importance of developing female-friendly condoms that are made from sustainable products and are eco-friendly to those who are using them and the planet. That’s why we hope whoever wins the 100,000 grant does more than build a more pleasurable condom: make sure it is eco-conscious too.
If a local inventor wins the grant, they would join Israel recipients who are working to build a better toilet.
Read more sexual health news:
How do Tree-Humpers Prevent Pregnancy?
GMO Foods Shrining Sexual Health in a Womb Near You
Ecosexy Love Begins with L Condoms
Author: Tinamarie Bernard
Tinamarie combines her interests in two of her favorite topics – relationships and the environment – for Greenprophet.com. As our eco-sexpert, she explores ways to make our personal lives more sustainable, whether it’s between a couple, the sheets or our ears. While eco-sexuality is a new term and still unfamiliar to many, being conscious about what we use in moments of intimacy is connected to better stewardship of the planet. The idea that green is sexy and sex can be green is one she is thoroughly enjoying discovering. This married mom of two also believes we owe it to our children to teach them to love themselves, each other, and the environment for futures to come. Intimacy isn’t something we are born knowing. Neither is good stewardship of the earth. In her spare time, she muses about sacred sexuality, conscious love, intimacy, feminism and parenting as the top-rated Modern Love column for Examiner.com and several other media outlets. She composes poetry (mostly in her heart), mediates (when time allows), rides horses in the Galilee, and searches for delicious parve dessert recipes. She considers chocolate a righteous sin, and won’t give up a single pair of red shoes. You can find...
Contraception should be mostly the woman’s responsibility since she is most at risk of consequences and her medicinal techniques are more efficient. The only reason for a man to use a condom is to prevent disease.
There are many reasons why some people won’t use them. Making them better is a good thing…especially since many women are actually allergic or have skin reactions to the condom.
You are correct that we have to do more thinking and better acting in these moments.
The “excuse” that it reduces pleasure has always been a “lie.” Putting one on takes time and guys want what they want earlier than now. And they cost money and too many guys are too cheap to buy them. No need to reinvent anything other than how to get guys to think with their brain rather than hormones.