Everyone laughed at “pervy” “whiner” Bill Gates when he offered up $100,000 to anyone building a pleasure-enhancing condom. But the Atlantic reminds us that if Gates is a creep, so are 40 percent of teenagers, half of gay men, and the vast majority of people outside their childbearing years — all of whom don’t use condoms because they feel terrible. And, not to ignore the gravity of sexually transmitted diseases, but even the righteously vigilant who swear it’s not that bad may be wrapping up for the wrong reasons. “For decades, the myth that pre-ejaculate (“pre-cum”) can impregnate women has been a reason people advocated condoms,” writes David Masciotra. “The truth is that the chance of pregnancy by pre-cum is so remote that it is a statistical nonfactor.” Citing a Guttmacher Institute researcher, he adds, “the withdrawal method of birth control is nearly as effective as condoms in preventing pregnancy,” resulting in pregnancy 4 percent of the time, compared with condoms’$2 2 percent. One hundred percent of my sex ed teachers lied.
