5 ms·

I often mention the whole Gen X trauma thing. Part of it is literally seeing the ladder being pulled up just as we reached for it. Not just for jobs or colleg

I often mention the whole Gen X trauma thing. Part of it is literally seeing the ladder being pulled up just as we reached for it. Not just for jobs or college tuition, but also sexually -- the previous generation had a pretty good time and the worst that was on offer was herpes. Puberty starts rumbling around and we're wondering what the future looks like and suddenly "GRID." And we were flailing around, is it viral? (There was, most people do not know, a period wherein it was thought that this was some kind of weird immune reaction to getting semen, any semen, into the bloodstream, which seemed unlikely to me even as a tween) How transmissible is it? Okay so maybe kissing doesn't do anything. And by the time that we figured out that it isn't exactly Ebola in terms of transmissibility, some damage was done. So, Sex = Death, rain is acid, the bees are coming, the nukes will eradicate us all. Gen X has been waiting for the other shoe to drop for decades and AIDS was just one facet of it.

TZubiri 3y ago
herpes is the worst thing? What about chlamydia, gonorrhea?
- at_a_remove 3y ago
  Herpes is permanent. While there are some stubborn antibiotic-resistant versions of the other two, they weren't that bad back then. So, yes, herpes is the worst thing.
  - irrational 3y ago
    Except, there is limited evidence that Herpes causes infertility in women while the other two definitely cause female infertility. I'd say the other two are worse since they often go undetected in women until the damage is already done.
- cortesoft 3y ago
  Those are both treatable and not permanent.
  - irrational 3y ago
    They are treatable if a person knows they have it, but they often go undetected in women. Women often have no outward symptoms and by the time they are diagnosed, the damage is done and they are infertile. This is permanent damage that is devastating news to couples trying to get pregnant.
    - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
      Which is precisely why people should get regularly tested for STDs.
      - irrational 3y ago
        Except, we all know that doesn't happen, mostly because of the state of healthcare in the USA. My brother got colon cancer, so I tried to get a colonoscopy (I'm over 50), they refused unless I saw a primary care doctor first, well the first available appointment was 6 months out. After that I got a colonoscopy appointment, another 6 months out. Ridiculous reality.
        hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
        I think there are plenty of problems with US healthcare, but I don't think this is one of them. Standard of care in the US is to get screened for STDs at least annually for sexually active people, and more frequently depending on your risk factors. Being on PrEP involves mandatory testing for STDs every 3 months. There are also tons of free clinics where people can get checked for STDs.
        pyuser583 3y ago
        Yeah I always remind my wife about that but she says she doesn’t like needles and it’s not necessary. Oh well.
        flangola7 3y ago
        Testing only once in 3 months is insane to me
- anaisbetts 3y ago
  Both of those are on the same order as "a bad cold" in terms of health - they are straightforward to treat and are not at all a big deal.
  - irrational 3y ago
    That's not true. Both can cause infertility in women. One of my friends is an ob/gyn and they say that one of the saddest parts of their jobs is telling a couple that the wife is infertile because of an STI she contracted (almost always Chlamydia or Gonorrhea) at some time in the past. Both of these STIs can go undetected in females for years. They just don't have any outward symptoms. By the time they find out, it is too late.
    - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
      Gonorrhea has become drug resistant due to the overuse of anibiotics (both for people and animals). Prior to fairly recently, it was easily cured if detected. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/multi-drug-resistant-gonorrhoea https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/multi-drug-...
      - irrational 3y ago
        It's the detection that is the problem. Ideally people will get checked regularly, but with the state of healthcare in the USA, we know that does not happen.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- dekhn 3y ago
  Well, in the sense that as a retrovirus that integrates into your genome and then erupts unexpectedly decades later.... yes.
PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
I'm Gen X and I don't agree with this at all. There's this idea that every generation bitches about the generation that comes after it, but I submit to you that every generation apparently also has people in it that see themselves as a special victim, as if the generations that came before it didn't also have their own challenges.
hinkley 3y ago
I point out that the eighties got so bad that George Michael, known mostly for writing happy celebratory songs, very nearly released a 'whole world is going to end' song in 1990's "Praying for Time" It's hard to love / there's so much to hate / hanging on to hope / when there is no hope to speak of / And the wounded skies above / say it's much too late / So maybe we should all be praying for time. They released that on the radio, it went to #1 on the Billboard charts, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. All while the First Gulf War was starting. Which he wouldn't have known when he was writing it.

TZubiri 3y ago

herpes is the worst thing? What about chlamydia, gonorrhea?

at_a_remove 3y ago
Herpes is permanent. While there are some stubborn antibiotic-resistant versions of the other two, they weren't that bad back then. So, yes, herpes is the worst thing.
- irrational 3y ago
  Except, there is limited evidence that Herpes causes infertility in women while the other two definitely cause female infertility. I'd say the other two are worse since they often go undetected in women until the damage is already done.
cortesoft 3y ago
Those are both treatable and not permanent.
- irrational 3y ago
  They are treatable if a person knows they have it, but they often go undetected in women. Women often have no outward symptoms and by the time they are diagnosed, the damage is done and they are infertile. This is permanent damage that is devastating news to couples trying to get pregnant.
  - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
    Which is precisely why people should get regularly tested for STDs.
    - irrational 3y ago
      Except, we all know that doesn't happen, mostly because of the state of healthcare in the USA. My brother got colon cancer, so I tried to get a colonoscopy (I'm over 50), they refused unless I saw a primary care doctor first, well the first available appointment was 6 months out. After that I got a colonoscopy appointment, another 6 months out. Ridiculous reality.
      - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
        I think there are plenty of problems with US healthcare, but I don't think this is one of them. Standard of care in the US is to get screened for STDs at least annually for sexually active people, and more frequently depending on your risk factors. Being on PrEP involves mandatory testing for STDs every 3 months. There are also tons of free clinics where people can get checked for STDs.
        pyuser583 3y ago
        Yeah I always remind my wife about that but she says she doesn’t like needles and it’s not necessary. Oh well.
        flangola7 3y ago
        Testing only once in 3 months is insane to me
anaisbetts 3y ago
Both of those are on the same order as "a bad cold" in terms of health - they are straightforward to treat and are not at all a big deal.
- irrational 3y ago
  That's not true. Both can cause infertility in women. One of my friends is an ob/gyn and they say that one of the saddest parts of their jobs is telling a couple that the wife is infertile because of an STI she contracted (almost always Chlamydia or Gonorrhea) at some time in the past. Both of these STIs can go undetected in females for years. They just don't have any outward symptoms. By the time they find out, it is too late.
  - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
    Gonorrhea has become drug resistant due to the overuse of anibiotics (both for people and animals). Prior to fairly recently, it was easily cured if detected. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/multi-drug-resistant-gonorrhoea https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/multi-drug-...
    - irrational 3y ago
      It's the detection that is the problem. Ideally people will get checked regularly, but with the state of healthcare in the USA, we know that does not happen.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
dekhn 3y ago
Well, in the sense that as a retrovirus that integrates into your genome and then erupts unexpectedly decades later.... yes.

PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago

I'm Gen X and I don't agree with this at all. There's this idea that every generation bitches about the generation that comes after it, but I submit to you that every generation apparently also has people in it that see themselves as a special victim, as if the generations that came before it didn't also have their own challenges.

hinkley 3y ago

I point out that the eighties got so bad that George Michael, known mostly for writing happy celebratory songs, very nearly released a 'whole world is going to end' song in 1990's "Praying for Time" It's hard to love / there's so much to hate / hanging on to hope / when there is no hope to speak of / And the wounded skies above / say it's much too late / So maybe we should all be praying for time. They released that on the radio, it went to #1 on the Billboard charts, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. All while the First Gulf War was starting. Which he wouldn't have known when he was writing it.