Dry Sex

This blog post mentions Dry Sex as a possible factor, largely unacknowledged, in the spread of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.

Widely practised in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and South Africa, dry sex is hardly ever spoken about. It is penetrative sex between a man and a woman, where the woman has previously inserted a substance- methylated spirits, antiseptics, coarse salt, snuff, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, talcum powder, ice, alum, Zam-Buk, traditional muti (usually prescribed by a traditional healer), soil with baboon urine, shredded newspaper, household detergents or bleach- into her cervix in order to make her vagina dry. Some women insert drying herbs in a cloth or stocking, which they keep inside during foreplay and remove just before penetration to 'make the thing behave, as one woman put it. They do this so when their lovers enter them, they are 'dry and clean,' because both men and women see their wetness as a sign of promiscuity and dirt.

The article cites an example;

Sipewe Mhakeni used herbs from the Mugugudhu tree. After grinding the stem and leaf, she would mix just a pinch of the sand-colored powder with water, wrap it in a bit of nylon stocking, and insert it into her vagina for 10 to 15 minutes. The herbs swell the soft tissues of the vagina, make it hot, and dry it out. That made sex 'very painful,' says Mhakeni. But, she adds, 'Our African husbands enjoy sex with a dry vagina.'

In my opinion, the use of condoms renders this practice irrelevant as condoms are lubricated. I do not know how prevalent this practice is amongst Zambians,it should be dicouraged. Women should not sacrifice sexual safety to men's pleasure.