To inform, raise awareness and advise on sexuality and in particular male contraception, the “Feast of the slip” marked the coup, this Saturday, May 27, with an evening dedicated to the Cotton Farm, in Auch.
Contraception remains above all a subject of society. Its promotion in rural areas, as here in the Gers, is not very successful. To remedy this, a new and unusual event was held in Auch, this Saturday, May 27: the “Fête du slip”. The title may make you laugh, but behind the project hides an approach that could not be more serious, driven by Mary Bellot and Baptiste Petit.
During the afternoon and throughout the evening, the curious, involved and interested people took their place to access the Domaine de la Ferme en Coton which hosted the initiative. “As we live in this rural area that is the Gers, we thought it would be great to be able to bring back culture, but also social issues, questions with a serious evening in a festive and rural setting”, explains Mary.
Because, if several serious questions relating to contraception are addressed around animations, debates and information stands, conviviality remains in order. “The idea is to tackle intimate subjects, but in benevolence and discussion, we are not there to state ready-made knowledge. We are there to provide information and not to give lessons”, recalls the organizer.
Answer questions
Beyond male contraception, the opportunity was perfect for learning, questioning, discussing sexuality, deconstruction, notions of consent, inclusion, etc. To do this, documentation was available to everyone, including players in the field. Family planning responded alongside the Action and Research Group for Contraception (Garcon), a Toulouse association.
The latter aims to disseminate knowledge on known or emerging methods of male contraception. Heated slip, silicone ring: these contraceptives are still unknown, yet “they work”, says the association on the stand.
How it works, how to get them, design them yourself: the public showed interest regardless of gender or age. “I heard about it, I come to see what it looks like”, supports a Gersoise. A bookstore stand allowed visitors to meet Bobika, author of the comic strip “Le cœur des Zobs”, a comic strip in which he offers a light-hearted account of his experience of male contraception. A testimony that frees speech on a subject that is still taboo.