Covid and Hep C Public Service Announcement: Do shit that makes sense to you.
Hello, we’re with the no-bullshit-fuckery squad. You may remember us visiting you recently about the coronavirus crisis, as well as about your sexually transmitted infection. We’re here today to talk to you about doing shit that makes sense to you.
That’s right, today I want to talk about making smart decisions around fisting dates when it comes to risk of infections, the most harmful and prevalent of which at the moment are Hepatitis C, and now also Covid-19. Let’s unpack.
And don’t run away now, this is important!!
I want to start with Covid, because that’s one that is pretty simple. Lots of us gays are still going around to chillouts/sex parties since the epidemic began, and I honestly won’t blame you for it. I was able to hunker down with one particular good friend of mine for a regular fist, so I was able to dispense with other partners for the time being when our numbers in Berlin started really going through the roof, and I know to consider myself lucky for that. In the community there are those like me, and there are also those who have stuck to the chills, and those who have cancelled their sex life altogether for the mean time. No matter the feelings surrounding any of these, I want to point out that you need to make a decision for yourselves and your partners (and also whomever else you are seeing, such as friends and family), regarding the risk of contracting and passing on the virus. Make a decision that makes sense to you. A great example I’ve heard for saying yes to continuing to have sex with a number of guys comes from porn actors eg. on justforfans, for whom sex is also work, and is in total a responsible thing to do. This doesn’t make them unthoughtful at all, quite the opposite. What I do not recommend is to not think about this issue and especially the impact on other people when you choose not to make an active decision about whether you are going to protect yourself against this virus to the greatest extent possible, or not. I know guys who have gone both ways in the last year, and I don’t like to judge anyone, but the one thing that makes me think “What the fuck?” is when guys seem totally tone deaf to the current state of the world and don’t want to raise the subject.
Second theme for today: Hepatitis C.
Most important info first: Hep C is a disease that is comparatively easily passed on by fisting rather than by other forms of sex. It requires blood to blood contact that is rare during sex, and even when fisting it is hard to get, but it does happen, and currently it seems to be doing the rounds in our wonderful European chapter of the fisting community.Three of my ffriends have contracted it in the last three months. Hepatitis C can become a disease with very severe symptoms, and the treatment can also be very difficult, depending on which treatment you get and how long you have had it. All reasons to get tested regularly for it.
Glove use
In mentioning Hep C, it makes sense to briefly get into the topic of wearing gloves during a fist session. Going without feels great, of course, and until recently I was doing a good long season primarily without gloves, but upon donning the black beauties once again this winter, I noticed that it didn’t make much difference at all to me to wear them or not. People say there is a difference for the fine feelings of your dainty fingers, and therefore wearing gloves has a negative impact on your feeling of intimacy; I say leave that out of the equation. You create intimacy with a partner from the way you express yourself and enjoy your time together. An unconnected fist without gloves on is still rubbish, and a connected fist with gloves is just as beautiful, so what is all the fuss about? At the end of the day, you come to an agreement with your partner that benefits both of your mindsets about risk and treatment, essentially trust and understanding. If it is something you guys value, do it. Just make sure everybody who is affected is aware, ergo they have power in the sexual situation. Knowing that nobody is hiding anything from anyone else is responsible, and responsibility is sexy. Own your adulthood, and make your sex freakin’ awesome.
Side note: the treatment is ex.pen.sive! If you aren’t medically insured, you’re also in for quite a ride as far as the bank and your mental health are concerned.
Here’s my advice on Hep C:
1. If you haven’t ever looked up info on Hep C, go read a bit further on wikipedia.
2. If you haven’t ever been tested for Hep C, or haven’t had a test in a long time, go get checked. You will need to tell the clinic or doctor specifically to test for Hep C as it is not normally tested in the standard STI testing (Syphillis, Gonnorhea, Chlamydia and HIV are).
3. Ah, and don’t share your sniffing rods if you take powders in your nose at a fist session. This actually shows a much higher rate of Hep C transmission in comparison to fisting without a glove, due to the potential for micro cuts during the sniffing.
Wrap-up
In conclusion, have conversations, and reach agreements with your partners. Don’t dally with indecision and ignoring things, favouring a childish attitude over responsibility. We play in the bedroom, but we deal with the consequences as adults in the regular world. We don’t need to let our play attitude bleed out into a world that needs us to take our responsibilities and attitudes more seriously than it did before, as is the case with Covid.
A final thought to illustrate my point: a friend and I went into Mehringdamm U-Bahn Haltestelle (a busy train station in Berlin right around the corner from where I live) today on our way to pick up some lunch. Once in the train stop underpass, essentially indoors, I put my mask on, and he asked me, “Do we need to wear masks in here? I don’t think that’s a rule”. I said to him, what’s important is not necessarily what the regulation is, but rather what makes sense to me given the current circumstances. He agreed with me about that.
PSA OUT.
– Jazzmatazz
