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Making condoms stylish for everyone
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By Natalie Armstrong
TORONTO (Reuters) - Condoms are very much in style as
a fashion accessory at the International AIDS
Conference in Toronto, showing up on strait-laced men,
shy teenagers and African grandmothers.
"There's a great need to de-stigmatize condoms around
the world, especially in Africa," said Franck DeRose,
executive director of The Condom Project, which aims
to get people comfortable about condoms, especially
those living in countries where the little piece of
latex is considered taboo.
To do that, the project has a program that gets people
making their own condom art pin. It all starts with a
craft table, packaged condoms, scraps of colored
paper, candy and other double-sided tape.
Toronto resident Maria Parish, 58, was making hers
with a blue condom and blue and yellow paper. "I want
something to symbolize the flag of Ukraine," she said.
"I am of Ukrainian descent and AIDS is a global
problem."
DeRose said that creating wearable art out of condoms
attracts people who normally wouldn't wear the
prophylactics, let alone touch them or even utter the
word.
"It opens the door," said DeRose. "We find that we're
very, very successful."
Almost 400,000 condoms have been decorated and turned
into brooches or pins around the world including
India, Thailand, Senegal and Burkina Faso, he said.
Just this week alone, about 30,000 of the pins have
been decorated at the conference, DeRose said.
People from different cultures and backgrounds wear
them, trade them and even argue over safe-sex related
topics while making them, including when to broach the
subject with kids, DeRose said.
"We're not pushing it on people. They come to us and
the information is there," said DeRose, adding his
group teams up with the local information groups in
the communities where his team visits.
"I don't think it's healthy or appropriate to change a
culture. But we can change the risky behavior within a
community."
DeRose, an artist from Washington, D.C., came up with
the idea three years ago while talking about ways to
get more people to wear condoms to fight the
HIV epidemic. The program has since spread around the
world.
"I have grandparents making them in Togo and Ethiopia.
I have groups of heterosexual men making them in
Washington," said DeRose, 42.
He said he was also motivated by concern for his
daughter, now 12, and 15-year-old son.
Adriana Bertini of Sao Paulo, Brazil, also was making
a condom fashion statement. She had plastic mannequins
sporting a dress made of orange condoms, a
rose-colored mini, a blue harem outfit made of blue
condoms, complete with a tight bodice and full-legged
trousers.
"The idea is you will see it and think of AIDS," said
Bertini, who says she has been making her condom
fashions for 10 years.
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