The condom

My very sexually active great-grandmother only had two children, so I am still considering all the options on just how she never had more. Thus, I did some research on the condom:

According to Wikipedia, “Condoms have been used for at least 400 years. Since the 19th century, they have been one of the most popular methods of contraception in the world.” In Western culture, the first use of such devices was to counter syphilis. In his 16^th century treatise, Italian Gabriele Falloppio describes the condom as a linen sheath that has been soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. These cloths were sized to cover the glans of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon. He claimed that an experimental trial of the linen sheath demonstrated protection against syphilis.

From this point on, either penis coverings became more popular or writers and scientists became more comfortable talking about them (or both), for the use of such coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. It wasn’t until 1605, however, when the first indication that the device was being used for birth control rather than disease prevention, went public. This occurred via a theological publication—De iustitia et iure (On justice and law)—by Catholic theologian Leonardus Lessius. Of course, he condemned them as immoral. Then, “in 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of ‘condons’, the first documented use of that word (or any similar spelling).”

During the Renaissance, condoms were made out of animal intestines and bladder. The first known condoms to cover the entire penis appeared in the late 15th century, when Dutch traders introduced ones made from fine leather to Japan.

Despite several kinds of opposition from legal, religious and medical circles, the condom market grew rapidly. By the 18th century, a variety of kinds of condoms were available and sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets and the theater throughout Europe and then America. Of course, due to expense and lack of sex education, condoms were generally used only by the middle and upper classes. It wasn’t until the 19^th century that contraceptives were promoted to those with lower incomes.

Condom use increased tremendously in the U.S. after the Civil War, particularly in response to skyrocketing rates of sexually transmitted diseases. (Oh, those Victorians—puritanical on the surface, but secretly breaking their own rules.) In fact, during this time, sex education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. Of course, the primary method taught to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was abstinence, because the medical community and self-declared “moral watchdogs” considered STDs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. In fact, the stigma against victims of these diseases was so great that many hospitals refused to treat people who had syphilis.

For decades, this attitude and educational practice continued—condoms were only for bad people who had sinful sex. Yet, “Worldwide, condom sales doubled in the 1920s.” By the mid-1930s, many religious institutions sanctioned contraceptives for married couples and legal restrictions began to be relaxed.

So perhaps my great-grandmother required that her husbands and lovers wear condoms to prevent pregnancy and disease. Yet in her environs—rural and urban Ohio—it seems more apropos that pregnancy prevention would have been left up to her, the woman. I grew up in the 1970s, and even into the present there is a prevailing attitude that pregnancy prevention is a woman’s responsibility.

But all this condom history is pretty interesting, isn’t it?