“How can you enjoy sex when you can’t feel the walls of your woman?” asked Luka Banda to Global Press Journal’s Prudence Phiri.

He was simply stating a very popular belief in some African and a number of Asian countries that sex is better when it is dry, warm and tight.

According to this school of thought, anything other than a tight vagina has been overused, overstretched and the conclusion is ultimately that: loose vaginas correspond with loose morals.

As a result, some women have been pressurized by their need to satisfy their men and defend their chastity by drying out their vaginas.

To achieve this, Vice says some women insert chalk, sand, pulverized rock, herbs, paper or sponges before sex while others douche with caustic liquids.

Now, however, most women in the practice consume herbal powders which are said to have the same effect as the inserts.

The Guttmacher Institute says the practice has been reported in South Africa, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

The Price to Pay is Pain

The major danger of dry sex is its promotion of HIV/AIDS contraction which Salon says happens in three ways:

• Lack of lubricant results in lacerations in delicate membrane tissue, making it easier for virus to enter

• Natural antiseptic lactobacilli that vaginal moisture contains are not available to combat sexually transmitted diseases

• Condoms more likely to break due to the increased friction.

In addition, in spite of the hype over how tight sex is pleasurable, the truth is it is physically painful for both the man and woman but more so for the woman. It will sometimes result in inflammation and tearing of vaginal walls. For men, penetration is more difficult and painful and may result in a burning sensation, redness and could also cause tearing of delicate tissues.
African Exponent