SOCIAL BEAT

I was listening to one of the local radio stations the other day and the show presenter was discussing taboos around buying condoms. Some listeners called in and shared their experiences. From the discussion, one could pick that there is still social taboo about sexuality, particularly in relation to women. Our society still perceives sexual engagement as male privilege; something done to satisfy and please a man, to the extent that women who are attuned to their sexuality are brandished promiscuous. It is such ignoramus perceptions, rooted in archaic patriarchal sexist notions, that fuel HIV/AIDS infection and unplanned pregnancies. So many women surrender their reproductive and sexual rights to their partners, instead of being in control; it is your body and your life, surely you should be a bit more in control?

The taboos prevalent in our society, which are perpetuated by cultural and religious beliefs, are often self-defeating in the bigger scope of things. Talk about shooting ourselves in the foot!

It is winter and this bae weather needs a walking mooi mooi with eyes and ears. Life can be a bit lonely, particularly for the unmarried, the so-called searching and single. And that is where booty calls can be convenient. I understand that sometimes you want the booty, but not the burden of the emotions.

You know that situation where you get that silly itch and you scroll through your phone contacts looking for someone to “hang” with. I know some folk who sends the infamous ‘Hi’ message to several candidates and pick it up with the one who entertains them.

Booty calls are controversial because some of them consider themselves legitimate lovers. They then develop strange tendencies such as calling during the day. They might even get overly excited and think they are in a relo when it’s merely a fling.

We have all heard stories of booty calls gone wrong. It could be realising in the heat of the moment that you have run out of condoms, and you turn primal and try the withdrawal method; and we all know many babies came to life because someone couldn’t pull out fast enough.

Or many that candidate who wants to graduate to girlfriend or boyfriend status or start making financial demands when they initially didn’t even declare that they are charging. Or they don’t honour appointments; I bet the gents could agree that there is nothing as “painful” as anticipating a roll in the hay, and then she comes up with some random excuse why she can’t make it.

Casual sex could come across as exciting but it is also dangerous. That is where illness often lurks. No one should be contracting HIV/AIDS in this day in age when there is so much information and tools but unfortunately, some people still contract the package or have unplanned babies. If we had more people buying and correctly using condoms, we wouldn’t have half the problems we face, some of which are very expensive.

I often find it amusing how some Batswana pretend to be goody-two-shoes who “don’t do certain things” and shy away from certain topics when they are in fact the dirty minded ones. Apparently on one occasion, some chap who was peddling wares went into a bus at the bus rank, saw two old men chatting, approached them and exclaimed: ‘Dumelang, ke rekisa dikausu!’ One of the old men angrily responded: ‘O makgakga mosimane ke wena. O re rekisetsa dikausu... ke mang yo rileng re dirisa dilo tseo?!’ The old man was so incensed that the young man hurriedly walked away. Turns out he was selling socks!