Sex aids in a bottle
ON return from a recent business trip, passing through the parish of St Elizabeth, my friends and I grew hungry and stopped at a sprawling roadside shop with a deep blue roof to check out the delectable fare. A lover of soup, I decided to try the crayfish soup generously filled with the bright orange crustaceans that looked pretty harmless.
Sold on it from the first taste, I ended up having three cups; after all, soups are good for you and it was absolutely delicious. Armed with my third cup, my friends and I headed back to the vehicle to chart our course home. Then something caught my attention.
On top of a dilapidated motor car parked a few chains away, manned by a dreadlocked man, were several bottles, predominantly recycled rum bottles, filled with liquids of different hues spanning dark green to deep brown. This had to be investigated. What were they?
A true salesman, the dread took us through these neatly labelled bottles extolling the benefits of each concoction to boost men’s virility. They say belief kills and belief cures, so which would it be for the buyers of these potions? Would they be shafted (no pun intended) or not? All kinds of plants liquefied to extract their hidden potency, to no doubt race through the bloodstream and straight to the root of the matter.
Likewise, the trust placed in the various herbs and bushes commonly found in markets islandwide, and also sold by itinerant pedlars, has me perplexed. What drives men to put so much faith in these mixtures instead of routinely being examined by their doctors for diseases and disorders of their reproductive systems? Think about it, men trusting their sexual and reproductive health to complete strangers who have no medical qualifications or fixed addresses, yet they won’t go to see the licensed medical doctor with any kind of frequency. This ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality of taking matters into their own hands invariably doesn’t work out in the long run.
The poor health-seeking behaviours of men coupled with cultural taboos, especially those surrounding who touches their private parts have resulted in late diagnoses and death, that could have been avoided in many instances and their lives prolonged. What it takes is a positive mindset and true courage to ‘man up’ to the results, good or bad. The tremendous support of us as mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends and friends can make a significant difference in how much longer we have our men around.
Looking at it from any angle, our men’s general health is paramount and we need to let them understand that medical personnel are not going to remember what they looked like anyway! Male or female, the medical staff is first and foremost professional. For now the health professionals in many instances rely on blood tests, samples or specimens, observation, digital rectal and testicular examinations to check men’s reproductive health issues which they then use to diagnose many of men’s health concerns.
We can lead on this one since it’s best to be proactive — share documented information, speak openly and honestly about medical issues, make a date to have your check-ups done simultaneously and adopt a healthy lifestyle (inclusive of those behaviours and practices related to sexual and reproductive health). Encourage them to act responsibly and put their health and yours in the right hands.
Dianne Thomas is the director, outreach programmes at the National Family Planning Board.
