Traditional gender roles make it difficult for men and women to talk to each other about sex and foster attitudes toward sex and sexuality that put many people at risk of HIV infection. A Ugandan newspaper is attacking gender stereotypes with some "Straight Talk" for those most vulnerable to HIV--the next generation.
I didn't want him to think I was cheap by saying "yes" right away. And I was a little afraid of being dumped.
If she said "no," I would not take her seriously. After all, that is what is expected. It's like a game.
Boys say girls are vain and materialistic. Girls say boys just want to con them into sex. But many boys believe they must "play sex" --even when they don't want to--to prove their manliness, while girls admit that they sometimes send mixed signals about their willingness to have sex.
This kind of dialogue occurs every month in the pages of Straight Talk, a newspaper produced by Uganda's Ministry of Information with support from UNICEF.
A monthly tabloid, Straight Talk is distributed as an insert in the daily government newspaper, New Vision, which has a circulation of 40,000. An additional 30,000 copies of Straight Talk are sent to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and secondary schools.
The newspaper provides information and advice about sex, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and relationships. According to Crispus Mundua of the Ministry of Information, one of its main purposes is to encourage boys and girls and parents and children to talk about these issues.
Straight Talk began in October 1993 as part of the media campaign of Safeguard Youth from AIDS (SYFA), a collaboration between UNICEF and the Government of Uganda through the Uganda AIDS Commission and the Ministry of Health. SYFA works with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to reduce HIV and other STDs among sexually active youth and to encourage young people to postpone sex.
Regular Straight Talk contributors include a sociologist and a physician. But much of the content comes from readers. The paper publishes dozens of letters in each issue, as well as articles by and interviews with young people.
Mundua says the newspaper receives five to 10 letters from readers every day. Some write to say how much they appreciate the publication and others ask for advice. In a column called "Dear SYFA," a physician and other specialists answer questions about a wide range of medical, social and emotional issues, from "How many tests should I have to make really sure I don't have HIV?" to "Is sex sweet?" Sometimes "Dear SYFA" asks readers to send their own responses to readers' questions.
Straight Talk also uses contests, surveys and quizzes to encourage reader participation. A "Do you mind if we ask?" survey asked readers about their first sexual experiences. The winner of a contest for the best story about sexual pressure and sexual boasting told of how he "began calculating imaginative sexual testimonies to furnish the proof of my manliness," after a friend teased him about being a virgin in front of a group of girls.
By providing a forum for young people's opinions and concerns about sex and relationships, Straight Talk hopes to demystify sex, challenge gender stereotypes, and encourage real friendships between boys and girls. One article noted that boys and girls learn separate rules of sexual behavior that are like scripts in a play. Girls' sexual scripts link sexual intercourse with love, while male scripts emphasize satisfying their sexual desires. Another article dissected passages from romance novels, showing girls how some of their favorite books reinforce these scripts, depicting men who are strong and forceful and women who are helpless and submissive.
The newspaper also provides peer support for postponing sex. Letters from readers about why they decided to abstain from sex and interviews with rap singers and other influential young people who are virgins shows readers that "everyone" is not "doing it."
"It is true that many teenagers pretend they are having sex when they are not," wrote a 17-year old boy. Another wrote that one of his friends had told him sex would improve his manhood and his sexual performance. "I told that fellow that sex isn't a game you play in public like football."
Straight Talk avoids preaching. It offers tips on assertiveness and sexual negotiation with a light touch, using comics, caricatures and catchy headlines such as "Know Your Body Fluids" and "Funk Dat Pressure." Advice is dispensed with humor and a no-nonsense approach: "Girls, are you like a computer when it comes to sex? Programmed to go when someone presses the right button? So the next time a boy tells you, 'If you loved me you wouldn't make me suffer,' give him a friendly smile. Let him know you know that he's just trying to push your button."
Letters to Straight Talk suggest that the publication is helping boys and girls understand each other better. The publication also encourages dialogue between parents and children about sex and relationships.
"The biggest problem we have now, especially among the youth, is lack of communication between the adults and the youth," Mundua said. "Therefore the youth end up getting information from their peers--information which in many cases is not correct."
The dialogue generated by Straight Talk occurs outside the newspaper's pages as well. Mundua reports that many schools have SYFA clubs that meet and discuss issues raised in the newspaper. World Vision, Inc., and other NGOs working with youth and their parents also use Straight Talk in their AIDS prevention activities.
Some parents, teachers and politicians have criticized the newspaper for tackling tough issues such as condom use, masturbation, premarital sex and sexual abuse, but most readers' reactions have been positive. A mother from Kampala wrote to urge all parents to let their children read Straight Talk .
Young readers say that Straight Talk fills a void in their lives. "Thank you for saying everything our parents fear to tell us," wrote one girl. Another said, "You have granted us the freedom to express our innermost feelings without shame."
-- Kathleen Henry
