My Talk For KFADC2: Kissing (And Herpes)
This is the video for my KinkForAll DC talk this past weekend. I’m not big on having pics of me on the Internet, so they just half-closed the laptop so as to get audio-only. It’s a bit hard to hear for the first few minutes, but as I go on I get louder, and the meat of the talk is clear. Even if you don’t have an STD, I think it’s worth listening to to hear about “theory, practice, ethics, and follies of kissing when you’ve got oral herpes.” (Thanks for the great summary, Figleaf!)
I was weirdly embarrassed about giving this talk at first. I even listed it as “something about kissing” or simply “kissing” so as to avoid possibly squicking people out with an over-serious title about disease. “Kissing (And Herpes)” actually comes from Maymay, when he edited the schedule page for clarity. I think that’s as good a title as any.
There’s some statistics on herpes and some health information I mention during the talk, so here are the sources:
* The statistic that 1 in 4 people have herpes is one I’ve read several places.
* Scarleteen.com lists the infection rates as high as 1 in 2.
* General symptoms of herpes and “asymptomatic infection”, when there are no symptoms.
As always, I’m open to discussion, questions, and stories about kissing in the comments. If I’ve linked you to a source that says something that just isn’t true, speak up and I’ll look into it. I’m not a health professional, just a chubby chick trying to get laid as much and as safely as possible! :)