Feb. 19--When she was younger, Emily Brown would always get nervous when she had to go into a pharmacy or supermarket to buy condoms.
"Condoms were always marketed toward men. Like the old Trojan ads. They were always very sexual and made me uncomfortable," said Brown, 26, of Albany. "It always seemed like they were made for boys, and that they were the ones who were supposed to be buying them."
Each year in the United States, tens of thousands of girls and women get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted infection. Much of the reason, a new campaign by Planned Parenthood says, is women do not take their sexual safety into their own hands.
The campaign is called Proper Attire and uses the slogan "No entry without proper attire." It employs snazzy packaging and a multicity nightclub tour in an aim to change the way women think of condoms and to help them better protect themselves.
"We want to appeal to women, so they will be more comfortable purchasing condoms and carrying them and using them," said Blue Carreker, spokeswoman for Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood.
With its packaging featuring an upside-down oak leaf and brightly colored patterns, Proper Attire condoms look like they could blend in on a boutique shelf with perfumes and body lotions. The condoms, manufactured exclusively for Planned Parenthood, come in varieties called "Basic," "Color," "Dots," "XL," "Taste" and "Sheer."
For now, the condoms can be purchased at all local Planned Parenthood offices. By the end of the year, the company hopes to have deals worked out to also sell Proper Attire in area boutiques.
Planned Parenthood began designing the new line about a year and a half ago, after years of research showed most women did not initiate conversation with their partners about safe sex.
"Research showed women are uncomfortable purchasing and requiring the use of condoms," Carreker said.
Part of the reason for that, she said, is the lack of proper sexual education in the United States.
"We spend more time in this country trying to keep people from being sexually active than creating an environment where they protect themselves if they are sexual," said Carreker.
In Western European countries, children are educated about sex from an early age. That education usually includes information on how to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It's a stark difference from the abstinence-only education funded by the U.S. government, said Carol Stenger, a sexual educator in the Capital Region.
"What you have here is a culture that is afraid they are going to encourage young people to have sex," Stenger said. "But what you get here is a younger age of sexual debut and higher rates of pregnancy and infection."
For example, said Stenger, only eight out of 1,000 teenage girls in the Netherlands get pregnant, while the rate in the United States is 79.8 out of 1,000. Similarly, in France, 55 out of 100,000 teens contract chlamydia. The rate of teen chlamydia infection in the United States is 1,132 out of 100,000.
Carreker and Stenger hope that encouraging women to buy condoms and take control of their sexual health can change those statistics.
"This should not be seen as a male or female issue," Stenger said. "Everyone who's sexually active has to be thinking about not spreading STIs."
Danielle Furfaro can be reached at 454-5097 or by e-mail at dfurfaro@timesunion.com.
The Proper Attire Tour
Planned Parenthood has been introducing its new line of women-marketed condoms at local nightclubs. This week's schedule:
10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Cafe Hollywood, 275 Lark St., Albany
11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave., Albany
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