Using a female condom

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

Last night Sarah Weddington gave a talk at my university, and our Students for Choice group set up a table there. We get a bunch of stuff from Planned Parenthood, but this time around we had gotten a BUNCH of female condoms. I had never seen one before, nor had the majority of people there. Luckily someone from PP explained to me how to use one, and I ended up carrying the condom around in my pocket all night, and giving demonstrations! A lot of people had never seen them. So I brought one home to show the boyfriend, and I decided to post a "tutorial" here. This is very picture heavy! And just to note, both condoms were lubed, so my hands are rather shiny here.

First off, here is the pack that they came in:



And here it is, compared to an average size male condom.



It has a less rubbery feel than a typical male latex condom, and a more thin plastic-y feel. I had to unroll the male condom, but the female condom is already this way. It does have one rolled end, but in th other end there is a flexible plastic ring that comes out.





This is how it looks, held up, with the ring in the bottom. And the black furry thing is Socrates, the cat. I tried pushing him away, but every time I did the lube attracted so much cat fur to my hands I just gave up. :-p

To insert the condom, you have the flexible ring in the condom, like you see in the picture above. And then you squeeze the ring together, or in a figure 8.



You then take the figure-eighted condom end, and insert it into the vagina like a tampon.



(Ignore the burnmarks on my hand.. way too much baking in a way too small kitchen)



You push the end of the condom up into the vagina, and the ring springs open to hold it in there, and it should look like this. The plastic protects the other bits from fluids.

After sex, you take the outer ring and twist it.



To lock all of the fluids inside. And then pull the condom out.



Ta da! And there you have a female condom. Apparently they are redesigning them, because they haven't caught on. But I figured that I would post this, so if anyone ran across a point that they needed to use one, they might have an idea - the instructions on the back of the package are really vague!

Comments

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Say, thanks! I've wondered about that forever.

[squisheroo.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. For some reason, I thought female condoms were HUGE. Who knew they were about the same size as male condoms?

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

They are about twice the size.. so they aren't huge, but a lot bigger than we are used to seeing them, compared to a male condom.

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

Or, twice the width, I'd say.

[heartsarts.livejournal.com]

whoa! Very cool!!!

[indigo-forest.livejournal.com]

huh! it's like inserting a nuvaring wrapped in plastic..lol.

[twirly.livejournal.com]

thats what i was thinking!

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

I just threw out the pamphlet, but I recently learned about anal condoms. These were marketed to gay men, and are really just female condoms wit ha different name. I have no idea how you would actually introduce the thing to your rectum, which is not as stretchy or accommodating as a vagina (not by a long shot).

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

Yeah.. I was told you could use these for anal sex, too.. but I really couldn't see how. It just would totally kill any mood that was left.

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

I have heard that you are supposed to take the ring out when you use them for anal sex. Don't quote me on that though.

Still not sure how you would get it IN there....???

Quite frankly, I don't really get it, even for vaginal sex. I mean, the RING is supposed to hold it in there? That's strange. I guess as long as you use enough lube there wouldn't be enough friction to pull it out?

It's hard for me to imagine in action!

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

I was talking to a professor about them, and she said that they haven't caught on in th US, but she said that they are being used a lot by African prostitutes, because they are able to put them in and protect themselves. Now, mind you, this is a second hand (third hand?) source, but I don't think she would relay anything to me that was false.

And I know.. they seem really hard to use. I thought about trying it, because I am on HBC, and my boyfriend and I have been together for a while.. so if it failed, Im protected. But it just seems so cumbersome!

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

I just found this interesting article about it:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04EFDF133EF937A15754C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really interesting

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

If I give it a try Ill let you guys know. But I was told that it actually is pretty noisy, and I can just imagine me and my boyfriend laughing so hard and not being able to have sex because I'm squeaking or something.

And when she first said that comment about the African prostitutes last night, it first hit me as pretty un-PC, but then as I do my research more, it seems to be true. It's pretty cool that they are taking the initiative and protecting themselves.

[winemedineme.livejournal.com]

I hear that the sound is akin to "f*ing a hefty bag". Oops.

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

It really feels like a hefty bag. And I really couldn't imagine saying "HEY, hold on for a second while I put this in my cooter."

But, if it's the only option available, I might think a lot differently.

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

That's cool!! Thanks for the info. :) If you give it a shot, you should let us know how it is.

[betterbebalboa.livejournal.com]

WHOA.

We have a black highly-furry cat named Socrates, too! Does yours also go by the code name "TheNinja"?

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha! We call him "Ninja cat".

[betterbebalboa.livejournal.com]

...
whoa.

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

http://pics.livejournal.com/indigodye/gallery/00013er1 There's his photoalbum :-D

[betterbebalboa.livejournal.com]

Our Socrates has the same yellow eyes and luxurious black fur with the blue highlights, but he also has a white "kerchief" under his chin and randomly patterned white feet/toes--in places it looks like piano keys. He also has one white whisker--above his eyebrow. He's a rescued stray!

I love the pic with the *pounce* on the bunches of paper.

[unripe.livejournal.com]

Awesome idea to do a demo. I'm a bit anti-condom, but only in committed relationships with all sorts of care not to have STIs or get too pregnant (for myself anyway). I never knew those existed - I thought the only girl latex out there was dental dams. Might be kinda fun to try it out - and it's good to be able to be responsible for your own protection too.

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

From what I know, the female condom isn't latex; it's polyurethane.

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

Yup, it's polyurethane.

[archangelbeth]

THANK YOU! That makes me give that box in the bedroom some more second looks.

How long before intercourse do you think one could be inserted? I mean, not hours and hours, I'd imagine, but... 15 minutes? At the start of foreplay? (Mind, my idea of foreplay can be getting a several-minute back massage, rowr.)

[indigodye.livejournal.com]

I've heard anything from a few hours to a few minutes, so I think at the start of foreplay you would be fine.

LOVE THOSE!!!

[michigan-loverz.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have used it for years, readily available at our local Rite Aid!

WE LOVE THEM!