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A review by lpm100
Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs by Ina Park
5.0
Book Review
Strange Bedfellows
Ina Park
5/5 stars
"Respect the bush; Tame the razor"
*******
Of the book
305 pages of prose
10 chapters
30.5 pps/chapter
289 references; ≈1/page; 28.9/chapter
Books should take about 4 to 5 hours to read.
Thoughts:
1. The author has a very fun / dry sense of humor.
2. The book feels as if it is a series of free-floating essays, and could be read out of order.
3. Because the book is so easy to read, you can't lose anything by reading it.
Acquired vocabulary:
Vajazzling
Pejazzling
Each chapter in a nutshell:
1. Various thoughts about HSV 1 and 2. Discussion of attempts to develop a vaccine.
2. Shaving pubic hair is both unnecessary and BAD.
3. The vagina is an extremely complicated system with its own microbiome, and it's better that you leave it alone. Excessive douching does not help anyone, and any bad smells are likely attributable to bacterial vaginosis. Lesbians in sexual encounters actually mix up their vaginal microbiomes.
4. Who doesn't have HPV? A bit of discussion on oncogenesis (without actually using the word).
5. STD transmission is not a direct function of the number of partners that someone has sex with. But, more of the characteristics of the linkages between the partners.
6. Selected thoughts on contact tracing. In many cases, it's a Fool's Errand. But the internet / hook up apps are Making It Even Worse.
7. Our old friend syphilis is making a comeback in a big way! Diseases could be like HIV, where they are very easy to diagnose but impossible to cure / difficult to treat. Or, they could be like the subject of this chapter (syphilis): a piece of cake to treat (just about the last thing left in the world that is still responsive to penicillin), but almost impossible to diagnose.
8. Antibiotic resistance from the perspective of N. gonnorhea. A bit of discussion of vectors, reservoirs, and asymmetry transmission (without actually using those terms).
9. HIV is treatable, and therefore less scary. "PREP" gives gay guys a reason to go bareback again, leading to exponential increases in syphilis/other diseases from a false sense of security. Clinical trials of PREP for African women failed because the native IQ was too low to follow the instructions of the experiment. (And so *that* fortune is told YET AGAIN.)
10. Making a condom that people want to buy (comfort/price point/etc.) It's harder to do than one might think, and the FDA does not make it any easier.
Things learned:
1. Nicks during the pubic hair shaving process make it easier for diseases to be transmitted. (p. 62)
2. For males: men who have sex with men as well as adult performers are much more likely to shave their pubic area and also do so much more extensively.
3. Herpes is a very manageable disease, and it's not quite the end of the world if you catch it. HSV-1 improves your immunity toward HSV-2
4. When ladies have *that* smell "down there," it is caused by by-products of bacteria (Gardnerella vaginalis, etc) such as "putrescine" and "cadaverine." (Yes, those are real words.)
5. Women's "feminine fragrance" is caused by 2099 different odoriferous compounds. When men have certain ethnic dating preferences because they say that they like the way that some women smell, there might be quite a bit in that little statement.
6. (p.140). Black and white ladies have similar numbers of sexual partners, but the rate of chlamydia / gonorrhea is 5 to 10 times higher in blacks than whites. And that is because when fewer men cycle in between a large number of women, they and act as disease vectors.
7. (p.159) As quiet as it's kept: biker gangs are a huge source of sexual concurrency / partner swapping
8. STD treatment is like a game of whack-a-mole. Once you make it such that HIV is treatable/ can be prevented prophylactically, then syphilis starts making a huge comeback.
9. I find not a single disease in this book that black people had less of. Almost every disease was 5 to 10 fold over represented among blacks. (No wonder it's so hard for us guys to snag a decent looking white lady.)
10. Author's two most important lessons are:
-Catching an STI or HIV isn't necessarily related to how many people you have sex with, but rather what sexual networks they happen to be part of;
-We are all going to catch something from someone, someday. Many of us won't realize when it happens, but trust me, it does.
Verdict:. Worth reading. If for no other reason than to explain why pubic shaving is such a bad idea.
Strange Bedfellows
Ina Park
5/5 stars
"Respect the bush; Tame the razor"
*******
Of the book
305 pages of prose
10 chapters
30.5 pps/chapter
289 references; ≈1/page; 28.9/chapter
Books should take about 4 to 5 hours to read.
Thoughts:
1. The author has a very fun / dry sense of humor.
2. The book feels as if it is a series of free-floating essays, and could be read out of order.
3. Because the book is so easy to read, you can't lose anything by reading it.
Acquired vocabulary:
Vajazzling
Pejazzling
Each chapter in a nutshell:
1. Various thoughts about HSV 1 and 2. Discussion of attempts to develop a vaccine.
2. Shaving pubic hair is both unnecessary and BAD.
3. The vagina is an extremely complicated system with its own microbiome, and it's better that you leave it alone. Excessive douching does not help anyone, and any bad smells are likely attributable to bacterial vaginosis. Lesbians in sexual encounters actually mix up their vaginal microbiomes.
4. Who doesn't have HPV? A bit of discussion on oncogenesis (without actually using the word).
5. STD transmission is not a direct function of the number of partners that someone has sex with. But, more of the characteristics of the linkages between the partners.
6. Selected thoughts on contact tracing. In many cases, it's a Fool's Errand. But the internet / hook up apps are Making It Even Worse.
7. Our old friend syphilis is making a comeback in a big way! Diseases could be like HIV, where they are very easy to diagnose but impossible to cure / difficult to treat. Or, they could be like the subject of this chapter (syphilis): a piece of cake to treat (just about the last thing left in the world that is still responsive to penicillin), but almost impossible to diagnose.
8. Antibiotic resistance from the perspective of N. gonnorhea. A bit of discussion of vectors, reservoirs, and asymmetry transmission (without actually using those terms).
9. HIV is treatable, and therefore less scary. "PREP" gives gay guys a reason to go bareback again, leading to exponential increases in syphilis/other diseases from a false sense of security. Clinical trials of PREP for African women failed because the native IQ was too low to follow the instructions of the experiment. (And so *that* fortune is told YET AGAIN.)
10. Making a condom that people want to buy (comfort/price point/etc.) It's harder to do than one might think, and the FDA does not make it any easier.
Things learned:
1. Nicks during the pubic hair shaving process make it easier for diseases to be transmitted. (p. 62)
2. For males: men who have sex with men as well as adult performers are much more likely to shave their pubic area and also do so much more extensively.
3. Herpes is a very manageable disease, and it's not quite the end of the world if you catch it. HSV-1 improves your immunity toward HSV-2
4. When ladies have *that* smell "down there," it is caused by by-products of bacteria (Gardnerella vaginalis, etc) such as "putrescine" and "cadaverine." (Yes, those are real words.)
5. Women's "feminine fragrance" is caused by 2099 different odoriferous compounds. When men have certain ethnic dating preferences because they say that they like the way that some women smell, there might be quite a bit in that little statement.
6. (p.140). Black and white ladies have similar numbers of sexual partners, but the rate of chlamydia / gonorrhea is 5 to 10 times higher in blacks than whites. And that is because when fewer men cycle in between a large number of women, they and act as disease vectors.
7. (p.159) As quiet as it's kept: biker gangs are a huge source of sexual concurrency / partner swapping
8. STD treatment is like a game of whack-a-mole. Once you make it such that HIV is treatable/ can be prevented prophylactically, then syphilis starts making a huge comeback.
9. I find not a single disease in this book that black people had less of. Almost every disease was 5 to 10 fold over represented among blacks. (No wonder it's so hard for us guys to snag a decent looking white lady.)
10. Author's two most important lessons are:
-Catching an STI or HIV isn't necessarily related to how many people you have sex with, but rather what sexual networks they happen to be part of;
-We are all going to catch something from someone, someday. Many of us won't realize when it happens, but trust me, it does.
Verdict:. Worth reading. If for no other reason than to explain why pubic shaving is such a bad idea.