The importance of love and understanding: Speculation on romance in safe sex health promotion

Abstract

The expectations associated with romantic love ill-prepare many young women for negotiating safety in sexual relationships. Romantic love tends to emphasise an intensity of emotional engagement, stressing reciprocity, and certainty. This conflicts with sexual health promotion efforts among young people, in a context where serial monogamy is common practice, that seek to promote the perception that all unprotected sex is risky. However, romance contributes a highly enjoyable aspect of many young women's experiences of sex, and offers a compelling a socially approved narrative of desire and pleasure. The issue of pleasure, more than the issue of risk, should be the key to making safe sex a per..