20,000 female condoms, 200,000 male condoms, 10,000 dental dams: will Paris 2024 be the sexiest Olympics ever?

Sex may not be an official discipline at the Olympics, but it certainly seems like Paris is gearing up for some intense indoor sports. The Covid-related intimacy ban that was put in place at the Tokyo Olympics has been officially abolished and a bulk order of contraceptives has been placed. During a recent press conferenceOrganizers of the 2024 Games said 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 female condoms and 10,000 dental dams will be available in the Olympic Village, where 14,500 athletes and staff are expected to gather in about a week.

In some ways, this is business as usual. For decadesThere have been boatloads of free contraceptives in the Olympic Village. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games broke records and created 450,000 condomsincluding (for the first time) 100,000 female ones. Even the sexless Tokyo Games had 160,000 free condoms – with strict instructions for athletes not to use them, but to take them home as souvenirs. (“Hi, Mom and Dad! I had a great time in Tokyo! Would you like to see my commemorative condom?”)

The Tokyo Olympics also featured recyclable cardboard beds, which became a meme after social media users speculated that they were “anti-sex beds.” (This was denied by organizers.)

So, while contraceptives aren’t new in the Olympic Village, I’m struck by the number of female condoms and dental dams in use in Paris, largely because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a female condom in the wild. In fact—and this may say more about me than anything else—until I went down the rabbit hole of the Paris Olympics, I had no idea people used the things. (My favorite method of contraception is homosexuality.)

Studies seem to confirm that female condom use is not particularly widespread. In the 2006-10 National Survey of Family Growth, only 1.7% of American women 15 to 44 years old reported ever using female condoms. That said, they are more common in some places than others. Brazil and South Africa have higher usage levels than the rest of the world because of distribution campaigns and education about how they help reduce the spread of HIV. Yet they do not seem popular enough to give out 20,000 units during the Olympics.

And what about dental dams, which are mainly aimed at lesbians? There is plenty of evidence that few people use them. An American sex shop chain told the Atlantic Ocean in 2019 that it sold fewer than 600 dams per month, across 13 stores and its website. A 2010 study found that among 330 Australian women who had sex with women surveyed, only 2.1% often used a dam.

What’s going on in Paris? Do the people in charge of purchasing polyurethanes and latex know something I don’t? Is there a global boom in dental dams and female condoms?

“In a nutshell, no,” says Dr Sophie King-Hill, a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham who specialises in sexual behaviour, when I quiz her on the issue. They’re still niche contraceptive methods. This is for a number of reasons, including a lack of education and the fact that female condoms can be expensive, hard to find and difficult to insert. Dental dam use is low, partly because of the mistaken belief that STIs can’t be transmitted through oral sex with a woman.

Still, just because these forms of contraception aren’t widespread doesn’t mean Paris 2024 organizers are wrong. “It’s a step in the right direction because it implicitly recognizes the importance of women’s autonomy and their sexual pleasure,” says King-Hill. “Female condoms and dental dams in particular are linked to a woman’s sexual pleasure – something that’s still taboo in many places around the world, including the West.”

The organizers of the Paris Olympics seem to be well aware of this. This year’s Games will feature a sexual health campaign that focuses on pleasure and permission and safety. So laugh at the idea of ​​female condoms; the fact that they are being promoted at such a big event is positive. Even though there are still many barriers to entry.