SAFE SEX

noun Also in the form safer sex (Health and Fitness) (People and Society) Sexual activity in which precautions are taken to ensure that the risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases (especially Aids) is minimized. Etymology: Formed by compounding: sex which is safe as regards the risk of contracting or spreading Aids. This combination of words was probably already in use in relation to contraception: sex which was safe from the point of view of unwanted pregnancy. However, it was only in relation to Aids that it became a fixed phrase with a specific meaning. History and Usage: The concept of safe sex (or safer sex, as some preferred to call it) arose in the mid eighties, as first American society, and later other societies as well, started to face up to the threat of Aids and think of ways in which it might be controlled. Awareness of the need for safe sex and general publicity about it were commonest at first among the gay community, but by the second half of the decade the message was being put across deliberately to all sections of society through health advertising. The main elements of safe sex as highlighted in government advertising campaigns were avoidance of promiscuity (by having a single partner) and the use of a condom as a barrier to the exchange of 'body fluids' during intercourse. While the city's major bathhouses and clubs...are still in business,...a few of the owners have been helpful in educating clients about safer sex. New York 17 June 1985, p. 52 The gay community...is now practicing safe sex so conscientiously that the rate of newly infected homosexual men in cities like San Francisco and New York has fallen dramatically. Life Fall 1989, p. 135 Part-parody, part safe-sex education, her presentation uses a combination of home movies, slides, vignettes. Mediamatic Summer 1990 (Edge 90: Special Issue), p. 230