But Europe is so much more Progressive!

When I am in the US or talking to Americans, I am often told how lucky I am to be living in Europe where people aren't all prudes and where sex is not a taboo topic. I always end up wondering where that myth comes from, as there are so many ways in which it is not true.

I was reminded of this again yesterday, when I stumbled across a study on contraception use among teenagers in Italy. An article on the study (found in yesterday's edition of the Milan Metro paper) stated that 30% of youths do not use any method of birth control at all and 20% use the 'withdrawal method'. Also prevalent amongst teens are urban myths about ways to prevent pregnancy, such as having sex standing up or washing out the vagina with coca cola afterwards. Too, 8 out of 100 women of all age groups do not use any birth control at all, and according to the organization of Gynecologists in Italy, the main reason women give for not using the pill is a fear of gaining weight.

There are similar issues that I've come across when I lived in Germany for the past four years. Such as the fact that gynecologists virtually prescribe no other method of birth control than the pill and will talk their patients out of using other methods when they inquire about them (something that happened to me, and when I told some female friends I found they'd had similar experiences). Additionally, STI testing is almost unheard of. Insurance companies do not cover the tests, thus they are expensive, and each infection has to be tested for individually. The cheapest, at 30-40 Euro, is the test for Chlamydia. Whenever I bring up testing amongst friends and acquaintances I am met with blank looks. A friend of mine told me that she did not need to get tested because her boyfriend was a blood donor.

What makes it worse is that, even here, many people do feel that Europeans are much more liberated and educated about sex. This misconception leads to carelessness and apathy, and the result is that teen pregnancies and STIs are on the rise in oh-so-progressive Europe.