I don't think STD's are the primary deterrent, or even all that significant of a deterrent, to people having sex today. If sexual activity is taking a dip, then I would attribute it to:
(1) A progressive moral counterpart to the conservative moral prudishness behind the mid-20th century sexual revolution. It's strange. In some ways, sex positive feminism has prevailed. And yet, sex in general seems more loaded and viewed with suspicion than it was back in the 1990's when I entered my late teens and early 20's.
(2) Internet-driven pornography addiction, social anxiety, and an all-around trend toward increased isolation and atrophied social skills.
TL;DR - Sex is down because too many young women are patriarchy-triggered by sexual advances, and because too many incel dudes have no game and get their needs met through OnlyFans. I don't think it's because people fear the clap.
Is the inadequacy of existing mechanisms to protect against STDs your primary impediment for having sex at the moment?
I somehow doubt it given that the mechanisms to protect against STDs are much better than before, the treatments when you do get them are much better than before, and even with all of this Millennials and Gen Z are having much less sex than older generations.
But of course, if you just can't get off unless you are having unprotected sex with people you can't trust to not have STDs, then yes, I'm sure the mRNA revolution holds some promise. Hope it works out for you.
> Is the inadequacy of existing mechanisms to protect against STDs your primary impediment for having sex at the moment?
Consider scale. There are plenty of people who would love to take part in giant group orgies, at least once in a while, if there were no risk of communicable disease.
Everyone has their own idea of what a utopia might look like, I suppose.
Show me that at scale people are happier if they have lots of anonymous sex and giant group orgies.
But fair enough, if your primary impediment to having sex is that you want to engage in group orgies and just do not feel this is safe enough without better STD vaccines, then the mRNA vaccine revolution may be the silver bullet you have been looking for, hope it delivers for you.
I'm pre-millenial, and for me STDs are definitely a reason to hold slightly back, sexually. Also, not needing to be so careful with condoms is a pretty big plus for many of us that prefer it without for several reasons.
I also look forward to having the serious ones cured.
Chlamydia and gonorrhoea are easy to test for and not too bad if caught early. In Sweden we can just log in to a government health care web site, click a button and get a free test kit sent home.
Having herpes out of the way would be great. HIV/AIDS doesn't seem to be that big of a thing anymore, at least not in my awareness.
Not sure what is then left to be afraid of, except unwanted pregnancies and hurt feelings.
> Is the inadequacy of existing mechanisms to protect against STDs your primary impediment for having sex at the moment?
It doesn't need to be a primary impediment. Look at it in an economics sense: fear of and precautions over STDs impose an additional, unnecessary cost on sexual interaction. Like a tax, that imposes a deadweight loss where some sex doesn't happen that otherwise would occur.
Back in the real world, sex is certainly not a commodity, but someone who is particularly interested in sex with non-fully-vetted partners (particularly in casual or near-anonymous settings) would be more strongly affected by the STD deadweight loss.
(1) A progressive moral counterpart to the conservative moral prudishness behind the mid-20th century sexual revolution. It's strange. In some ways, sex positive feminism has prevailed. And yet, sex in general seems more loaded and viewed with suspicion than it was back in the 1990's when I entered my late teens and early 20's.
(2) Internet-driven pornography addiction, social anxiety, and an all-around trend toward increased isolation and atrophied social skills.
TL;DR - Sex is down because too many young women are patriarchy-triggered by sexual advances, and because too many incel dudes have no game and get their needs met through OnlyFans. I don't think it's because people fear the clap.