While there is some debate among epidemiologists about whether to call monkeypox “sexually transmitted” versus “sexually transmissible,” it is reasonable to consider that sex is one activity that transmits infection, similar to other infections that are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact during sex, like herpes, syphilis and the human papillomavirus. While no deaths have been reported in the United States, more widespread infections will result in some people experiencing severe complications, such as damage to the brain, eyes and lungs (Varma, J. (2022). “America May Soon Have Another Sexually Transmitted Infection”, New York Times).
Barthesian analysis is a pretty useful tool for picking apart the indirect forms of communication which are a central feature of almost all contemporary mediatic opinion engineering. To simplify somewhat, this sort of approach distinguishes between what’s being immediately signified (i.e. virus vials above, the claim that the ape plague is being sexually transmitted, infects sperm, and will rot your brain), and what’s being indirectly connotated, that which at the same time is being stated “between the lines”.
This connotative signification also brings the wider context into the communication of meaning, e.g. by intertextual relations or by invoking associations to other news items or dominant trends in the media.
Controlling epidemics of S.T.I.s depends on prompt diagnosis and effective treatment of infected people and their contacts. Yet government funding for diagnosis, treatment and contact tracing has been declining. In the 2010s, many health departments reduced hours at sexual health clinics, and prevention programs were further disrupted starting in 2020 because of Covid-19. In part because of these reduced health services, S.T.I.s have been rising for years, and the C.D.C. estimated that, on any given day in 2018, one in five Americans had one of these infections. Rates are particularly high in people 15 to 24 years old and men who have sex with men.
Other experts and I fear that monkeypox will exploit this vulnerability and become a permanently entrenched S.T.I. in the United States, as has happened with syphilis and H.I.V. Initial skin changes in this outbreak often appear innocuous and can occur in locations that are easy to miss, such as inside the anus. Nevertheless, these lesions are highly contagious and can even contaminate surfaces or materials such as towels, which can spread infection to other people. The skin changes can also mimic those of other infections, such as herpes, molluscum or syphilis, so monkeypox can be easily misdiagnosed by someone not expert in evaluating S.T.I.s.
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Federal and state governments should immediately begin large-scale campaigns to educate health care providers of all types about monkeypox. Public health officials cannot assume that doctors will simply know when to test for it and how to navigate the process of swabbing a skin lesion and getting it to a specialized lab.
Public health agencies need to dramatically increase collaborations with community groups and hookup apps, party promoters and travel companies that specialize in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men to promote self-screening for skin changes. Some gay men are quite comfortable taking and sharing photos of their penis and anus while flirting; encourage them to do it for their health as well. The federal government also should authorize state health departments to use unspent Covid-19 funds to support S.T.I. supplies, equipment and staff for expanded hours and outreach at sexual health clinics, as well as contact tracing and support for isolating infected persons (Varma 2022).
So what’s the connotative signification here?
O, pray tell, dear cybernaut, what are we to read between the lines?
Drawing on past pandemics, scholars have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic will bring about fertility decline. Evidence from actual birth data has so far been scarce. This brief report uses data on vital statistics from a selection of high-income countries, including the United States. The pandemic has been accompanied by a significant drop in crude birth rates beyond that predicted by past trends in 7 out of the 22 countries considered, with particularly strong declines in southern Europe: Italy (−9.1%), Spain (−8.4%), and Portugal (−6.6%). Substantial heterogeneities are, however, observed (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105709118).
Why should you care about population decline? Fewer people are good for the climate, but the economic consequences are severe. In the 1960s, there were six people of working age for every retired person. Today, the ratio is three-to-one. By 2035, it will be two-to-one.
Some say we must learn to curb our obsession with growth, to become less consumer-obsessed, to learn to manage with a smaller population. That sounds very attractive. But who will buy the stuff you sell? Who will pay for your healthcare and pension when you get old?
Because soon, humanity will be a lot smaller and older than it is today (Bricker, D. (2021). Bye, bye, baby? Birthrates are declining globally – here's why it matters. WEForum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/birthrates-declining-globally-why-matters/).
Yeah, keep keeping away from crowds. Wear masks and don’t touch icky people. And GOD FORBID you have sex with them.
(still from World Champion Masturbation in Japan | VPRO Metropolis, youtu.be/SNH5EUw7gxk)
On that note, who here thinks the Roe v. Wade calamities will suddenly turn the Weimar West into flourishing Amish-style communities populated by 8-child families rather than further aggravating the relations between the sexes on the road towards decline? Raise your hand.
Thanks! That is the kind of writing I like to read. Now, lemme read it once more...