Of all the potential mood killers when getting hot and heavy for the first time with a new partner (latent emotional baggage, the horrifying realization you forgot to tame your bush, grandma calling), perhaps none is more damning than the much-dreaded STD conversation. Shudder. We all know this an essential smart modern woman conversation, but listen, it still stings a bit.
For years, there have been two common solutions to this: grit your teeth and get super awkward or (much worse!) don’t address it at all, which a recent study found is startlingly common among the sexually active.
But now, there’s a better way to bypass the whole, "are you clean enough for me?" talk and gain some peace of mind: Hula, an app that helps users get tested for STDs, posts the subsequent medical records to a privacy-protected social network. New paramours get the info up front, rather than waiting for the world’s worst pillow talk. But with or without this ingenious new tool to lay the groundwork, it’s important to remember the following before diving in to the bugs-on-our-genitals convo.
Don’t fret—you’re totally normal if you have an STD!
Half of all sexually active young people will get a sexually transmitted disease by the age of 25. So no, you are not an oversexed weirdo or a pariah if you already have one and need to share that fact with your partner.
If your suitor freaks out about the topic, they're not worth boning
You are obviously amazing and capable of getting other delectable specimens to lay you. As multiple experts have advised, any person who blanches at talking STDs is not worth your time or vagina.
Don’t be afraid to have a sense of humor about it
STDs are uncomfortable, but they can also be kinda funny—as when herpes was found on a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey. Or how about this company who started making STD plush toys. (Wow.)
Now, all that said, if your grandma calls while you’re talking STDs, we really don’t know if we can save you from the awkwardness.
Shudder.
Image: commons.wikimedia.org
