Just a few weeks ago on Valentine’s Day in San Francisco, FC2s, or the next generation of female condoms, were passed out around the city. Although I can imagine many people taking them with a weird, pained look on their face like someone offering them an acid-washed jean jacket, the message was clear. Protection from HIV and other STIs is just as important on Valentine’s Day as any other day.

According to a  USA Today story via Jezebel, female condoms are making a comeback. Now made with cheaper-to-produce materials, the condom is being sold in Walgreens and CVS stores worldwide, and usage has apparently tripled in the past years. The benefits (that make it “AWESOME”) include that it can be inserted up to 8 hours prior to intercourse, and that it not only prevents pregnancy, but also the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Furthermore, it’s wider diameter covers more area of the genitalia as opposed to the male condom, which only partially protects both partners.

I’m not gonna go into how it works because this isn’t sex ed, but because this is Awesome of Awful, we do have to discuss the downside, and no one describes it better than a porn star named Stoya, who gave the product a review on her blog recently:

The thing about these female condoms is that they’re kind of baggy. And the ring at the top which is supposed to keep it in the vagina isn’t very stable. And they’re sort of sticky. All of this adds up to the condom kind of sticking to the penis in question instead of sticking inside my vagina, which kind of felt like I was being banged by a stiff ziplock bag. Eeek.

So, you know. There are pros and cons, and although the porn-star may have used more colorful language for her review, we can’t deny the safety benefits that the female condom (as well as other forms of contraception) provide for those of us who enjoy the single life but don’t want to suffer repercussions from acting irresponsibly.

So what do you think? Female condoms: Awesome, or Awful?