The Health Consequences of Moralizing

“If it turns out I have herpes, people will think I’m a slut.”

“I should be safe from HIV, right? I mean, I’ve only been with a few guys.”

Both of the above statements are things that I’ve had people in my life say to me. I do not think these are unusual statements. It seems to me that in our society, there is still an underlying mentality that catching an STD -- any STD -- is a sign that the infected person is promiscuous and a slut.

The thing is, it isn’t true. All a person has to do to get an STD is have sex with another person who happens to be infected with one.1 That may be the person’s only sex partner ever. It may be zir only sexual experience ever. Ze wasn’t “promiscuous” by any stretch of the imagination. Ze just had a sexual encounter with someone who had a disease or infection and passed it along.

The reality is, people pass other infections back and forth all the time. A good example of this is the herpes simplex virus type 1. This is the virus that causes cold sores, and it’s estimated that 80% of the population is infected with HSV1. Many people have cold sores that come and go and no one makes much fuss over them, other than to note how “unsightly” they can be.

However, we react differently to the idea of catching the herpes simplex virus type 2, the virus which causes genital herpes. While there are certainly some extra concerns and potential health risks associated with genital herpes, they are not generally fatal and people can live healthy, happy lives while infected with HSV2, same as those of us living with HSV1. So why do people get more worked up over HSV2 infections? Is it just because of those extra complications and health risks I mentioned?

I don’t think so. To see the real reason why people tend to dislike the idea of catching genital herpes and other STD’s ties back into the perception that people who get STD’s are promiscuous “sluts.” Because no one wants to be slut-shamed. And that’s exactly what happens to people who have STD’s.

Oh sure, those who engage in slut-shaming will tell you they do what they do out of “concern” for people, encouraging them to remain celibate or faithful for life to one person known to be STD-free.2 And it is true if a person can successfully navigate that course of action for the entirety of their lives, ze will remain happily STD-free.

That takes a lot of work and more than a little luck, mind you. It requires a person to remain celibate until they find that one person they believe they’re compatible with, end up to be right, remain compatible for the remainder of zir lives. It also requires the other person to remain 100% faithful for the rest of their lives. Oh, and it requires the person to never ever fall in love with someone who is already infected with an STD.3

The reality is that such an ideal doesn’t pan out for everyone, no matter how hard everyone tries. Things happen. Life happens. And shaming people for the consequences when even the best laid plans go awry is cruel.

So the positive of the anti-sex slut-shaming approach to life doesn’t always pan out. However, I’d also like to suggest that there are negative consequences to the approach too. Slut-shaming -- or even just encouraging the slut-shaming paradigm -- when it comes to STD’s is downright counterproductive, as it forces people to make bad choices, like not getting tested for STD’s when they are sexually active.

If a person believes that only “promiscuous” -- and therefore immoral -- people get STD’s, then they are far less likely to get tested for STD’s on a regular basis. After all, in their minds, getting tested would imply that they are being “promiscuous” and immoral. This is unfortunate, because some STD’s do provide actual health risks -- including the potential to be fatal -- if left untreated. So encouraging such a mentality actually encourages people to take unnecessary risks with their health.

Having an STD isn’t always a picnic, and I am a strong believer in doing whatever a person can to protect zirself from STD’s. However, I think we are long past the time where it is appropriate or safe to morally stigmatize those who have STD’s. It does not help them, and it prevents people from keeping track of their sexual health responsibly.

Footnotes
1  Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that. Even having sex with an HIV positive person -- to pick one example -- doesn’t mean that one will become HIV positive oneself. Sometimes an STD is not transmitted from one person to the next for various people. However, the fact remains that one sexual encounter with one HIV position person is all that is theoretically necessary to become infected oneself.
2  The thing the slut-shamers won’t explicitly state, but become obvious by considering their words and actions carefully, is that they feel that those who already have an STD have “gotten what they deserve” and don’t deserve happiness because of their past “promiscuous” behavior. So much for their compassion, I say.
3  Like I said, those who promote the slut-shaming approach to love don’t seem to believe that infected people deserve love or happiness.