Health News and Information

“And I don’t feel worthy of your respect because …” (Say whatever comes to mind next.)

“You’re not worthy of my respect because …” (Say whatever comes to mind next.)

“And you’re not worthy of my respect because …” (Say whatever comes to mind next.)

“My parents never respected my feelings.” “If I was angry, my parents laughed at me.” “My father laughed at my mother.” “My mother laughed at my father.” “My brothers degraded my sisters.” “My sisters degraded my brothers.”

“If you don’t respect me, I’ll …” (Say whatever comes to mind next.)

“And if you don’t treat me with respect, I’ll …” (Say whatever comes to mind next.)

“Actually, I do respect you and it’s all right.”

“And I respect you, and it’s all right.”

“You respect me and I deserve it.”

“And you respect me and it’s fine.”

“I respect myself, so I can respect you.”

“And I respect myself so I can respect you.”

“Every day, in every way, I respect and admire you more.”

“And every day, in every way, I respect and admire you more.”

“I’ll honor you until I die.” “And I’ll honor you until I die.”

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Players: Dog (husband) and cat (wife). Activists: Both. Setting: Home.

Aim: Break through inhibitions and political or moral extremes by “stooping” to animal behavior.

Game Plan: Husband and wife don dog and cat masks (respectively) and crouch on the floor on all fours. Otherwise, just like dogs and cats, they are naked. The dog chases the cat around the floor, and the cat scoots away. The dog barks and the cat hisses.

Dog: “Ruff! Ruff! Come here, cat!”

Cat: “Meow! Meow! Not on your life!”

Dog: “I have a little something for you.”

Cat: “I’m sure you do.”

Dog: “Ruff! Ruff! You’re making me mad!”

Cat: “Hiss! Hiss! Stay away or I’ll scratch you!”

The dog continues to chase the cat around and sniff at her. He sniffs at her behind. She wiggles it and trots away.

Dog: “Ruff. Ruff! I said come here!”

Cat: “Meow! Meow! Come get me!”

Dog: “If you don’t come here, I’ll bite you.”

Cat: “You’d better not, because I’ll scratch you.”

Eventually the dog chases down the cat and begins to have sex with her. Like all animal sex, however there is no concern about political correctness. The result, it is hoped, will be true animal passion.

If the couple can get over their inhibitions to playing this game, it can be very enjoyable, liberating, and insight-producing.

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At the same time, participants in this game will understand that the physical traits they have been using as excuses to avoid sex are just that. Not that this game will eliminate these excuses or permanently restore sexual attraction. Many (or most) of these excuses to avoid sexual intimacy have transfer-ential roots and hence will be deeply ingrained in the personalities of the participants. They were, after all, developed during childhood to defend against real sexual hurts, and must be respected. However, this game may serve to bring these attitudes to the surface, where they can at last be dealt with.

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“I’m going to stick your dirty thing inside my dirty thing.” “Please don’t do that.” “Sorry. You asked for it.” “No, no, please—spare me!

“Sorry. This is what a dirty nerd like you deserves.”

The conversation will, of course, vary according to the whims and discretion of the participants. It must be emphasized that this game is to be played only by mutual consent, and if during any part of the game one or the other participant becomes upset, it should be stopped and the submissive partner untied. However, as long as the game is enjoyable (or, at minimum, endurable), it should continue. When the dominant initiates intercourse, he or she begins the second phase of the game.

“How do you feel now?”

“I like it.”

“You like to be degraded, don’t you?”

“Yes, Madam.”

“You like to be humiliated.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Because you’re bad.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Why are you so bad?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you remember?”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I remember being bad.”

“How were you bad?”

“I touched myself down there.”

“Did you get caught?”

“My mother caught me. She said I was bad.” “What else?”

“My uncle touched me down there.” “And you liked it, didn’t you?” “Yes, sometimes. But I also hated it.” “You liked it. That’s why you need it now.” “Maybe.”

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Players: Husband and wife. Activist: Both. Setting: Hotel.

Aim: By playing out the “scolding parent” and “naughty child” scene in which hygiene is carried to an extreme, unconscious fears and resistances are traced to their roots and thus confronted.

Game Plan: The husband and wife arrange to go away for a second honeymoon. On their first night, before they go to bed, they must give each other a thorough scrubbing so that they will both be immaculate before engaging in sex. They take turns being the scrubber and scrubbee.

The scrubee stands in the bathtub or shower and the scrubber takes a cloth or sponge, soaps it up, and heartily rubs every spot on the other’s body.

“Oh, what a dirty little boy you are,” the wife should say to the husband as she scrubs him. (“Oh, what a dirty little girl you are,” the husband says to the wife.)

The scrubbee takes extra pains in scrubbing the genitalia and other orifices.

“You’re so dirty down there. I’m going to have to give you a good scrubbing.”

“Yes, Mommy.” (“Yes, Daddy”)

“How filthy you are down there.” “I am not!” “Yes, you are.”

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Proctitis is transmitted sexually primarily when a person receives penile penetration in the anal area or, in women, when genital infection contaminates this area. Enteritis is transmitted when a person ingests fecal material, either through oral-anal sex or through oral-genital sex when the anal-genital area has been contaminated by fecal material. Proctocolitis can be acquired either way.

A man who performs anal intercourse can become infected (and usually remain symptom free) and then infect others by performing anal intercourse on them. Some people who receive anal intercourse practice rectal douching; these infections can be transmitted if the equipment for rectal douching is shared. Douching can also cause injury to rectal tissues, making transmission of sexually transmitted infections more likely. People who are infected with some diseases, such as herpes, through genital-genital sexual contact may experience outbreaks in the anal area (see the section on herpes), but only rarely inside the rectum.

If condoms are used correctly during anal intercourse and if they do not break or leak, they will help provide protection against proctitis and proctocolitis. Oral-anal contact should be avoided if a person’s infection status is not known. Dental dams or plastic wrap may provide some protection against these infections for those who practice oral-anal intercourse, but they should not be relied on completely. Only tiny amounts of the bacteria Shigella, for example, must be present to cause infection. As noted previously, even symptom-free persons who are infected can transmit these infections. To prevent nonsexual transmission, proper food handling techniques, hand washing, and efforts to avoid contamination of water and food products are essential.

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It is recommended that infants whose mothers are infected with herpes not be connected to fetal scalp monitors (which rely on electrodes that create tiny cuts in the scalp) or be delivered with the use of forceps unless absolutely necessary, since the trauma that occurs from these instruments may allow entry of the herpes virus and thus increase the risk of infection.

Studies are under way to determine if treatment of the mother with antiviral medication (acyclovir) in the last two weeks of pregnancy will decrease the risk of transmission to the child by suppressing an outbreak and asymptomatic shedding. However, acyclovir has not yet been approved for use during pregnancy. The drug has been inadvertently taken by a small number of women during their pregnancies without apparent problems, but it is not recommended at this time.

When a woman and her health care provider are unaware that she has herpes, no discussion of options will have taken place, and precautions will not have been taken to prevent transmission. In this case, if the woman is having an outbreak, decisions must be made during the delivery. Blood tests for herpes earlier in the pregnancy are recommended for all women, so that planning can be done in advance.

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One of the treatment for women that has been used for many years is topical applications of boric acid, which is used in pill form and inserted into the vagina, usually every day for a week. This is a good first treatment, and it may also be an option for yeast infections that do not respond to the other treatments already described. Treatment of the vagina with gentian violet is another, older treatment that is still used today, albeit less often. The gentian violet is painted onto the vaginal walls by a health care provider. As its name suggests, gentian violet is purple in color, and it stains the underwear.

If boric acid, gentian violet, and over-the-counter medications do not cure the infection, then a woman may benefit from using a prescription-strength cream such as terconazole or a tablet such as nystatin. Terconazole can be used for either three or seven days (the two different regimens are of similar efficacy, because the three-day cream is stronger). Nystatin is taken once a day for two weeks. For men whose infections are not cured by the over-the-counter creams, keto-conazole cream is a good alternative,- it is applied to the rash once a day for a two-week period.

The antifungal drugs fluconazole, itraconazole, and ketoconazole are available by prescription as oral medications for both men and women. They are as effective as the creams and are a little easier to use, but the oral medications may have more potential side effects than topical treatments. These include rare allergic reactions and liver toxicity (also rare), so these medications should be used with caution in people with liver problems. Fluconazole is taken as a single oral dose; itraconazole, orally for three days; and ketoconazole, orally for five days. These oral medications have adverse interactions with several other commonly taken medications, so it is important that the health care provider know about any other medications a person is taking.

Using oral antifungal medications does not appear to encourage the growth of drug-rcsistant yeast strains.

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