All woman are not in a position to negotiate condom use. By applying the condom with the mouth resistance against condom use can be overcome. Soweto, South Africa, 2002
I live in South Africa and appreciate the need for this kind of sex education - yes it is a comical picture, I mean how often is it that you get to see a woman with a condom in her mouth about to go down on a wooden "penis" however, comedy aside, Aids is a serious problem in this part of the world and I applaud the people and organisations who organise these kind of sex education projects in the townships and rural areas.
As for Maciek's comment about the people being so stupid this is totally wrong. I think that if Maciek took the time to visit South Africa you would find that the rural population are generally not stupid but are simply just uneducated. You must remember that they have been living according to thier own culture and beliefs for centuries and have only recently (the last 150 years or so) been introduced to western culture. In most African cultures, the more children you have, the richer you are as they will look after you when you are old (almost like a pension plan - more kids = more money) therefore contraception has never been a factor for concern. The general consensus is that if you take away a man's power to reproduce then you are in essence taking away his manlyhood. This myth has filtered down to the younger generation and unfortunately is not only true in the rural areas but in the cities and townships too. I have young black educated friends, the kind of guys who have good jobs, nice houses and drive around in fancy cars and yet they still believe that they are surrendering their manhood if a lady asks them to wear a condom - this is the light in which condoms are seen and as a result this kind of education is imperative to preventing aids from becoming more widespread than it already is.
Apart from that, photographywise, this is a great shot, I love the experssion on her face and like the use of DOF to keep her face sharp and her hand and the "penis" slightly blurred, your crop is also spot on - well done - I like this pic a lot - Regards Bob
Interesting that some people find this image comical. What I found comical was the comment of this educator, Mpoh, who told me: When I educate a group of girls there is always one who says: My boyfriend does not like to use condoms. I tell them: you do it this way, and you'll see how much he likes to use a condom. And Maciek, you seem to be the person who does not know what's going on yourself. (By the way: there is no genital mutilation in Southern Africa). Mpoh told me that in a situation where people worry if they are going to get a meal that day, it is difficult to get them to worry wether they are going to get a disease in ten years. Then, many people in South Africa do not have the knowledge about HIV/aids you are referring to, and that is precisely what Mpoh is working at, day in day out, while you are sitting at your computer talking about "animal needs". (Do I sense racism here?) All human beings are, among many other things, sexual beings, so sexual desire is as human as it is animal.
Maciek, I don't really understand what you're saying?
To me, this picture shows the importance of education. I don't think it's trying to be funny, but shows the difficulties to be overcome to try to curb this disaster.
AIDS is an ongoing human disaster of unseen proportions. And the resources invested to deal it is far far too small. I've been a bit in West and East Africa, and the need for wide-scale education on issues like this is immense.
Being infected by HIV for something like ten years and still understanding the indirect effects, while striving for food on the table everyday at the same time... this sickness is very 'abstract' to many uneducated people, and I don't feel I am in a situation to judge them for that.
Also, it's easy to believe everything in "Africa" is bad and a disaster. It's not, people eat, laugh, love, fight, work and life flows on, everyday.
Anyway. Good picture that is important and evokes a lot of feelings. -Christian
I know I shouldnt laugh, as there is a very serious story to this photo. But my first reaction was laughter. I think its a nice and a light approach on the AIDS issue. Good job
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