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  • Title: Condom use and the popular press in Nigeria.
    Author: Renne EP.
    Journal: Health Transit Rev; 1993 Apr; 3(1):41-56. PubMed ID: 10148797.
    Abstract:
    The increased acceptability and use of condoms by men in southwestern Nigeria is reflected in joking references to condoms in the comic-style popular press. Yet these references display an ambivalence about condoms that is mirrored in survey data and in interviews regarding condom use by rural Ekiti Yoruba men. This ambivalence, which is often couched in terms of health, has implications for the acceptance of government-sponsored HIV/AIDS-related educational programs. Because of the irreverence of comic-style newspapers and the 'unofficial' nature of their authority which coincides with popular attitudes about health programs, they have a credibility that could be useful in educating adolescents about sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. There has been a proliferation of newspapers and magazines in recent years in Nigeria. Among these newcomers are the celebrity type, the love story type, and comic newspaper soft porn type. These latter publications are the most satirical and subversive of the 3 forms. Condoms and condom use are mentioned frequently, both directly and indirectly, in Nigerian popular press with references made in the context of jokes about contraceptives, obscenity, satirical commentary on politicians, and in depicting the war between the sexes. Editorials, medical advice columns, and feature articles in other types of mainstream publications also frequently broach the issue of condom use. The familiar, humorous, and impertinent comic soft porn newspapers like Lolly, Ikebe Super, and Fun Times, however, should claim a significant degree of responsibility for making condom use seem familiar and fashionable to a broad group of Nigerian men. Open, light-hearted references to condoms in the popular press have increased condom acceptance as modern and culturally acceptable, yet many hold that local knowledge on health should not be abandoned. These conclusions are based upon household census and interview data from 70 women aged 15-39 and 66 men aged 20-44, and knowledge, attitude, and practice survey questions to 302 men and 300 women respectively aged 20-54 and 15-49. While the acceptability and use of condoms by men in southwestern Nigeria is reflected in joking references to condoms in the comic-style popular press, writings in the popular press nonetheless often suggest a distrust of condoms which results in a degree of ambivalence in the population about condoms. This ambivalence has implications for the acceptance of government-sponsored HIV/AIDS-related educational programs. That stated, comic-style newspapers in Nigeria have a credibility which could be useful in educating adolescents about sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS.
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