Plausible STD Immunity

So my work has a magical, Fantastic setting. Most of society is pretty sex-positive, and because of this, magical oral contraceptives are easily available. This still isn't a setting that I would call 'modern day' in manner of technology, so latex condoms don't exist. I am aware that animal intestine condoms have existed for a while, but they aren't effective for preventing the spread of venerial diseases. I'm not comfortable with having a setting where much of the population would have gotten/still have minor ST Is, but I know that if I don't mention it, it will defiitely invoke some Fridge Logic / Horror. Anyway I could Handwave this without bringing too much attention to it? It isn't a huge part of the plot.

It's magic. Say there's a magical/alchemical pill or something, and don't bother going into detail.

But why settle for something simple when a more in depth explanation could be crafted?

If you do have wizards or mages, its not implausible that a man who can shoot fire from his hands or heal wounds without medicine would be capable of crafting a magic material with qualities nearly identical to latex.

You could even write an eccentric background character around the concept. The creepy perverted condom wizard ([[Narm dont actually call him a "condom wizard"]]) who lives in the little dodgy building on the edge of town, a man who the entire town relies on so they can have sex, yet one who doesn't get any "action" (at least not without paying) of his own due to the creepy vibe his profession gives him.

If you want to have a more "mundane" approach, you could take the Discworld route where they discovered it completely by accident while working with rubber. Latex crafting using natural rubber was passed on by the Olmecs to the Mayans as early as 1600 BC, so its not implausible that your fantasy society could have been crafting with it for some time.

edited 7th Jul '13 9:48:00 AM by SalmonPunch

Good lord, the 'condom wizard' comment made me laugh out loud Thanks for the good idea.

Beyond latex, merely a condom spell of some sort, like an antibiotic spell they can serve both as contraceptive and anti-VD setup.

Could still fit it in with the "creepy/wacky sex wizard"

Edit: oh, and the spell could do male enhancement too. Why not?

edited 7th Jul '13 12:46:48 PM by Ogodei

Because unless it has a purpose, that kind of thing is just filler. If the author decides to go in-depth on why no one in the setting has genital warts, I won't care; if it turns out that it doesn't have any relevance to the plot, I'll be annoyed that the author wasted my time to indulge in a weird bit of world-building.

Then again, that's just me. If you've found readers who care about magical condoms, good for you.

Right, Is this important for the story?

Is the existance of magic more believable than the lack of ST Ds?

edited 7th Jul '13 11:14:46 PM by m8e

In my experience the fridge logic of STD's is indeed kind of a damper on the reading experience. Especially in stories where there wasn't magic, and so the STDs were pretty much guaranteed. There was one historical fiction story where one of the traveling group's characters went to a brothel, and the rest of the tale I kept expecting symptoms to start manifesting.

He asked for an explanation. I'm simply providing what was asked.

Considering one of the protagonists is explicitly stated in-universe as being very promiscuous, (plus the setting itself is pretty sex-positive) It would probably invoke some Fridge Logic if it wasn't addressed. Sure 'Billy Mc'Fucksalot' doesn't have to worry about knocking anyone up thanks to a handy-dandy contraceptive potion, but even if your fallopial tubes/semen isn't working, you'd have to worry about coming into contact with other people's (potentially) diseased naughty bits. Unless you just straight up say they don't exist in 'this world,' which, unless you give an adaquet explanation, would make no sense.

Hence, the magic bit. Have another character comment on the man-whore's promiscuity by asking him if he ever worries about getting some horrible disease, than have the man-whore grin, pick up a pill, than swallow it, and then say "Nope". Or something. Unless him contracting a STD is important to the plot, it can be ignored the same way writers of all stripes usually omit the characters relieving themselves.

Personally, even in a work set in a sex-positive world full of promiscuous characters, the presence or absence of STD's isn't something I would even think about as a reader unless it's brought up within the story, any more than I wonder how women handle their menses in a work that uses No Periods, Period. It only becomes an issue to me if the author makes it one.

The Law of Conservation of Detail is strong.

edited 8th Jul '13 10:53:51 AM by Madrugada

My own work has a throwaway mention of a stele commemorating the inventor of oral contraceptives. It's just a bit of Narrative Filigree, an off-handed mention of who the stele is dedicated to in an unrelated scene that takes place near it, where the stele serves only as a convenient landmark.

You could do similar, showing off whatever solution you come up with indirectly. A merchant mentioning a "protection charm" among his wares, a healer commenting on how finicky the spell is when discussing her job overall... something most people will barely notice but obsessives will spot when trying to piece such details together.

edited 8th Jul '13 11:43:36 AM by KillerClowns

Sorry for necroing but I have a similar problem in wanting to create a promiscous society with a medievalish "tech-level".

I'd like to avoid magic as an explanation if possible. How plausible would it be for such a culture to develop better immunities for more common STD's through natural selection?

Perhaps there's been a strain of microorganism that has short, sharp, and early one-off onset period, after which it has no further effect... and which aggressively hunts down any other STI organisms, keeping the host relatively clean forever after.

It might proceed a bit like penicillin - if you provide minimal discomfort to your host, and you kill all other organisms that might intrude on your turf, then the host may be willing to symbiotically support you, or even intentionally inoculate themselves with you at adolescence.

I'm imagining something like "catching the spasms" after your first time having sex - where the sexual initiation ritual also takes on a health aspect to it, so you "catch" the protective strain from your elder, more experienced lover. Perhaps the first day or so post-infection is uncomfortable or even agonizing... but the lifetime of peace of mind thereafter is a good enough incentive to get it over and done with early.

Rather like having your kids catch chicken pox or mumps early in life, to build up a lifelong resistance.

edited 18th Nov '14 7:21:38 PM by enixine

One world I'm working on has a similar situation. The world is highly sexualized to the point that asexuality literally does not exist. As it's a futuristic setting, I had imagined that nothing more than "science has developed to the point where STD's have been eradicated" would be sufficient.

It's okay to not want to write about it or focus on it or it simply being rarer or socially deviant, but asexuality is an entire sexual orientation like being homosexual or bisexual. Some people literally just don't feel sexual attraction or arousal towards anybody or anything, in a manner that goes beyond any sort of lifestyle choice, medical problem, or past life event (like sexual trauma).

But note that sexuality doesn't consist solely of the physical act of having sex or sexual contact; it also includes the emotional and romantic aspects. A person can be asexual (not desire sex) and, say, biromantic (desiring romantic relationships with both men and women) at the same time.

It's okay to not explore the science behind why everyone can have tons of consequence-free (barring emotional and social consequences) sex, but make sure that what you do say about sexuality is correct and respectful. Asexuals have to deal all the time with their sexuality not being recognized as existent and people insisting that they 'just haven't found the right person yet' or have some sort of medical problem or whatnot. Which, if they're viewed as social outcasts or deviant in your setting, could hint that not everything is smiles and rainbows...

Okay, that's enough derailing the thread. I had to get that out of my system.