如何提升安全套的吸引力？尺寸很重要
安全套向來有體驗(yàn)很差的壞名聲。男人們經(jīng)常抱怨它不舒服、降低快感、貼合度差。最近的一項(xiàng)聯(lián)邦研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國(guó)男性中只有三分之一的人使用安全套。
Now, changes by the Food and Drug Administration and industry-standards groups have opened the door to the condom equivalent of bespoke suits. A Boston-based company has begun selling custom-fit condoms in 60 sizes, in combinations of 10 lengths and nine circumferences.
現(xiàn)在，美國(guó)食品與藥品管理局(Food and Drug Administration，簡(jiǎn)稱FDA)和行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)團(tuán)體做出的變化為安全套開辟了定制的大門。一家位于波士頓的公司已經(jīng)開始銷售60種規(guī)格的定制安全套，共有10種長(zhǎng)度和9種周長(zhǎng)組合。
Will the development improve the appeal of condoms, the only birth-control method that protects against most sexually transmitted diseases? Public health experts are unsure.
安全套是唯一可以防止大多數(shù)性病傳播的避孕方法，這種變化是否會(huì)提升它的吸引力呢?公共衛(wèi)生專家對(duì)此并沒有把握。
Many ideas for improving condoms have fizzled, sometimes stymied by the costs of testing required to satisfy the FDA, which considers condoms to be medical devices. A competition sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sought ideas for more pleasurable condoms in 2013 but has not yet brought one to market. While some winners are still pursuing prototypes, others have given up.
改進(jìn)安全套的很多想法都以失敗告終，有時(shí)是因?yàn)橐獫M足FDA要求的測(cè)試成本太高了，因?yàn)镕DA把安全套視為醫(yī)療器械。比爾及梅琳達(dá)蓋茨基金會(huì)(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)在2013年贊助過一個(gè)競(jìng)賽，想發(fā)掘更舒適的安全套設(shè)計(jì)，但是迄今沒有任何產(chǎn)品推向市場(chǎng)。雖然一些獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)呷栽谶M(jìn)行原型的制作，其他人卻放棄了。
As the custom-fit condom company, Global Protection Corp., pressed the FDA and industry standards associations for changes, a key priority was smaller sizes, said the company’s president, Davin Wedel. Until recently, standard condoms had to be at least 6.69 inches long, but studies find the average erect penis is roughly an inch shorter.
一家名叫全球保護(hù)公司(Global Protection Corp.)、銷售定制安全套的企業(yè)推動(dòng)FDA和行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)協(xié)會(huì)做出了改變，該公司總裁戴文·韋德爾(Davin Wedel)表示，小尺碼是個(gè)優(yōu)先重點(diǎn)。直到最近，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)安全套的長(zhǎng)度至少都是6.69英寸(約合16.99厘米)，但研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，陰莖勃起的平均長(zhǎng)度大約比這個(gè)要短1英寸(2.54厘米)。
“The idea was it had to be long enough to fit most men, and excess length could just be rolled,” said Debby Herbenick, a sexual health expert at Indiana University. She and her colleagues published a study of 1,661 men living throughout the United States that found that 83 percent had penile lengths shorter than standard condoms. The average length was 5.57 inches.
“我們的想法原本是，它必須足夠長(zhǎng)，適合大多數(shù)男性使用，而且還有富余的長(zhǎng)度，剛好可以卷起來。”印第安納大學(xué)的性健康專家黛比·赫本尼克(Debby Herbenick)說。她和同事發(fā)表了一項(xiàng)針對(duì)美國(guó)各地1661名男子的研究，發(fā)現(xiàn)83%的人陰莖長(zhǎng)度比標(biāo)準(zhǔn)安全套短。平均長(zhǎng)度為5.57英寸(約合14.15厘米)。
In studies, some men have complained that “condoms tend to slip off,” said Ron Frezieres, a vice president of research and evaluation at Essential Access Health, a nonprofit. And sometimes larger condoms actually felt tight because “shorter men had a big roll of latex at the base of the penis.”
非營(yíng)利組織本質(zhì)健康通路(Essential Access Health)的研究和評(píng)估副總裁羅恩·弗雷澤雷斯(Ron Frezieres)說，在研究中，有些人抱怨“安全套常?；?rdquo;。有時(shí)較大的安全套實(shí)際上使用起來卻感覺很緊，因?yàn)?ldquo;尺寸較短的男人在陰莖根部把套子卷了好多圈”。
The custom condoms, marketed under the brand name myONE Perfect Fit, come in lengths of 4.9 to 9.4 inches and circumferences of 3.5 to 5 inches. (Standard condoms are typically 6.7 to 8.3 inches long and 3.9 to 4.5 inches in circumference.) The template that men are given to measure themselves does not include inches or centimeters, instead using randomly ordered letters and numbers. One man might be E99, another Z22.
這些定制安全套使用“MyONE Perfect Fit”品牌進(jìn)行銷售，長(zhǎng)度最短4.9英尺(約合12.45厘米)，最長(zhǎng)9.4英寸(約合23.88厘米)，周長(zhǎng)最小3.5英寸(8.89厘米)，最大5英寸(12.7厘米)(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)安全套長(zhǎng)度通常從6.7[17.018厘米]至8.3英寸[約合21.08厘米]，周長(zhǎng)從3.9[9.906厘米]至4.5英寸[約合11.43厘米])。發(fā)給男性的測(cè)量工具上面沒有標(biāo)注英寸或厘米，而是使用了隨機(jī)排序的字母和數(shù)字。比如一個(gè)男人的尺碼為E99，另一個(gè)為Z22。
“If they bought a small condom before and it was still too big, it’s horrible for men to have that experience,” said Wedel, whose company owns myONE condoms. Within hours of going on sale, he said, customers had ordered condoms in all 60 sizes.
“如果他們以前購(gòu)買過小碼安全套，還是感覺太大，這樣的經(jīng)歷讓男人感覺很糟糕，”韋德爾說。他的公司擁有myONE品牌，在發(fā)售開始的數(shù)小時(shí)內(nèi)，60種規(guī)格的安全套每一種都有人訂購(gòu)。
One customer, Shawn Reimund, 34, of Austin, Texas ordered B17. With standard condoms, “the length was frustrating because you would get a lot of sliding,” he said, and excess latex would be “cutting off your circulation. I compare it to an anaconda wrapping around you.” Also, “sometimes the girth just wasn’t enough.”
34歲的肖恩·雷蒙德(Shawn Reimund)來自德克薩斯州奧斯汀市，他訂購(gòu)了B17尺碼。標(biāo)準(zhǔn)安全套的“長(zhǎng)度令人心情不好，因?yàn)殚L(zhǎng)太多了”，他說，多余卷起來的部分將“妨礙你的血液流通，就好像一條蟒蛇纏著你”。另外，“有時(shí)候周長(zhǎng)又不夠”。
The custom-fit company president, Wedel, 50, got into the condom game as a Tufts University undergraduate, when he and a classmate sold condoms in packages festooned with the university’s mascot, Jumbo the elephant.
這家定制公司的總裁韋德爾現(xiàn)年50歲，在塔夫茨大學(xué)(Tufts University)讀本科時(shí)進(jìn)入安全套行業(yè)，當(dāng)時(shí)他和同學(xué)把安全套放在飾有大學(xué)吉祥物金寶象(Jumbo)的包裝盒里出售。
AIDS was raging, he said, and “we put a fun slogan and a picture on a condom, and presto, we were changing condoms from something taboo.”
他說，當(dāng)時(shí)艾滋病正在肆虐，“我們?cè)诎踩装b上印了有趣的口號(hào)和照片，很快就改變了安全套被視為禁忌的狀況。”
Soon, Wedel, who considered becoming a professional violinist, informed his mother, a church choir director in Crystal Lake, Illinois, that he was going “all in on the condom career.” He co-created a glow-in-the-dark condom, helped open Manhattan’s Condomania store, and won a court battle to sell Pleasure Plus, a condom that balloons near the tip.
不久之后，本來將走上專業(yè)小提琴家之路的韋德爾就告訴在伊利諾伊州水晶湖的一個(gè)教堂唱詩班擔(dān)任團(tuán)長(zhǎng)的母親，他將“投身于安全套事業(yè)”。他參與推出了一種可以在黑暗中發(fā)光的安全套，還幫助Condomania商店在曼哈頓開業(yè)，并贏得了銷售Pleasure Plus的法庭訴訟，這種安全套的尖頭附近有一些氣泡。
Still, “condoms have an enormous image problem,” acknowledged Wedel, whose company works closely with public health organizations. The new federal study found “condom non-use remained common,” and that nearly 7 percent of women using them said condoms “broke or completely fell off.”
盡管如此，韋德爾也承認(rèn)，“安全套在形象上存在巨大問題”。他的公司與公共衛(wèi)生機(jī)構(gòu)緊密合作。這項(xiàng)新的聯(lián)邦研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，“不戴安全套的情況仍然很常見”，而在使用安全套的女性中，有近7%表示曾有過安全套“破裂或完全脫落”的經(jīng)歷。
Custom condoms cost 66 cents apiece in regular 24-pack shipments ($1.66 apiece in a single six-pack). Early purchasers were also sent the next larger and smaller sizes for free.
這個(gè)定制安全套通常按24個(gè)一盒發(fā)貨，價(jià)格是66美分(約合人民幣4.3元)一個(gè)套，6個(gè)一盒的價(jià)格是1.66美元一個(gè)套。先買的人可以免費(fèi)獲贈(zèng)大一碼和小一碼的規(guī)格。
Michael Davis, 21, a college student in Waverly, Florida, said he preferred the M77, the size above the one he first ordered. Standard condom circumferences were “just basically too big,” he said. With custom-fit condoms, he has found “no slippage whatsoever.”
21歲的邁克爾·戴維斯(Michael Davis)是佛羅里達(dá)州沃弗利的一名大學(xué)生，他表示喜歡M77，這比他最初訂購(gòu)的尺寸大一碼。他說，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)安全套的周長(zhǎng)“真是太大了”。用定制的安全套，他發(fā)現(xiàn)“怎么樣都不會(huì)滑脫”。
Herbenick said condom education, along with tips like adding lubricant, are more important than access to 60 sizes. She and colleagues published a study that found custom-fit condoms less likely to break but, for some men, more likely to slip.
赫本尼克說，安全套教育，以及使用潤(rùn)滑劑等提示，比提供60種尺寸更重要。她和同事發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，定制的安全套破裂的可能性降低了，但對(duì)一些男性來說滑落的可能性增大了。
Some men might “prefer a condom that they think fits their penis,” she said. “But for the most part, men and their partners are fine with existing condoms.”
一些男性也許“更喜歡他們認(rèn)為尺寸適合的安全套”，她說。“但大部分時(shí)候，男性和他們的伴侶都可以接受現(xiàn)有的安全套。”
Still, Frezieres said, even without “true benefit,” custom condoms might increase usage, simply by being “confidence boosters.”
但弗雷澤雷斯說，即便沒有“真正的好處”，定制安全套可能也會(huì)因?yàn)槟軌?ldquo;增強(qiáng)信心”而促進(jìn)安全套的使用。
