Steroids

Originally posted by aquageek No, I was assuming that avoiding risky behavior is a good way to avoid STDs. Ah ha, what you are assuming is that behavior our culture considers risky is viewed the same way in other cultures.... Risk is relative, culture permeates. If the cultural and political leaders of a society hold to their mandates that HIV does not cause AIDS, or that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted sexually (as many have stated in Africa), then the people cannot be expected to believe that unprotected sex is a risk factor in HIV/AIDS contagion. To get back on the original topic of steriod use, it relates that until people realize the harm steriod use can create they will not consider it risky behavior to avoid. Case in point - the use of steriods by star ball players (or runners, or swimmers or whatever) without obvious consequences creates a feeling among younger athletes that there are no risks. Vicious circle? Yup. Unstoppable? Probably not. But, like the slow recognition in the US that HIV/AIDS was not just a homosexual issue, and not just a drug addict issue, these things take time and, sometimes, a paradigm shift in the prevailing culture. Kae (who knew those advanced degrees in anthropology would come in handy someday)

Originally posted by aquageek No, I was assuming that avoiding risky behavior is a good way to avoid STDs. Ah ha, what you are assuming is that behavior our culture considers risky is viewed the same way in other cultures.... Risk is relative, culture permeates. If the cultural and political leaders of a society hold to their mandates that HIV does not cause AIDS, or that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted sexually (as many have stated in Africa), then the people cannot be expected to believe that unprotected sex is a risk factor in HIV/AIDS contagion. To get back on the original topic of steriod use, it relates that until people realize the harm steriod use can create they will not consider it risky behavior to avoid. Case in point - the use of steriods by star ball players (or runners, or swimmers or whatever) without obvious consequences creates a feeling among younger athletes that there are no risks. Vicious circle? Yup. Unstoppable? Probably not. But, like the slow recognition in the US that HIV/AIDS was not just a homosexual issue, and not just a drug addict issue, these things take time and, sometimes, a paradigm shift in the prevailing culture. Kae (who knew those advanced degrees in anthropology would come in handy someday)