Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Health and Fitness

    Carrying condoms makes you sexier

    Governmental health ministers launch campaign to encourage young women to ‘be prepared’

    By Marie Claire
    Published 20 March 2009 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Sex, Relationship, Health, Marie Claire News
    Sex, Relationship, Health, Marie Claire News
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Governmental health ministers launch campaign to encourage young women to ‘be prepared’

    The Department of Health's £5.2 million Condom Essential Wear campaign has today kicked off an initiative called 'Condom confidence boosts sex appeal'. In it they inform women that men don't see girls who carry condoms as 'easy', but quite the opposite see them as confident and in control.

    The campaign was launched by Health Minister Dawn Primarolo. Today's findings, aimed at women in their late teens and early 20s, shows that 'men like nothing better than a woman who knows what she wants'.

    It also advises them on how to persuade men to use condoms using phrases such as, 'If you make it clean, I'll make it dirty,' and, 'Let's get you ready for the ride of your life.'

    The majority of men polled (68%) believed that women who carry condoms are confident and ‘in control’. Furthermore, more than a quarter of men (27%) would actually prefer their partner to be the one who suggests using condoms.

    The Daily Telegraph has not welcomed the initiative and quoted Conservative MP Julian Brazier as saying: 'It is very sad that the authors of this document do not seem to understand that the problem starts with growing levels of sexual activity by people with multiple partners. This campaign is contributing to the further growth of the problem rather than to public health.'

    Also quoted in the Telegraph, Patricia Morgan, author of studies of teenage pregnancy, says: 'You could hardly do more to encourage promiscuity. It is close to asking girls to go about the place with notices on their foreheads saying they are available.'

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    The campaign’s spokesperson Sarah Hedley, a journalist, author and media sex expert says: 'Taking a condom on a night out should be as normal as taking a phone, keys and purse.

    'There has never been a better time for women to be condom confident and enjoy a healthy, active sex life.'

    CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

    Marie Claire
    Social Links Navigation

    The leading destination for fashion, beauty, shopping and finger-on-the-pulse views on the latest issues. Marie Claire's travel content helps you delight in discovering new destinations around the globe, offering a unique – and sometimes unchartered – travel experience. From new hotel openings to the destinations tipped to take over our travel calendars, this iconic name has it covered.

    Latest in Health and Fitness
    A woman reading a book in bed; bedsheets and flowers
    Wellbeing Move Over, White Noise: New Research Says Pink Noise Can Clean Your Brain as You Sleep—Scientists Weigh In
    Roasted carrots, parsnips, and onions: A chopping board with vegetables on for chicken soup
    Nutrition My Grandmother Swore By Chicken Soup When We Were Ill—Our Experts Weigh In on Which Urban Wellness Legends Actually Work
     
     
    Dr Hazel Wallace
    Female health I’m a Female Health Expert With PMOS. These 8 ‘Boring’ Habits Help Me the Most
    Keely Hodgkinson winning Athlos 2026
    Fitness Fashion is Fuel—Keely Hodgkinson is Winning Proof That Wearing Confidence-Boosting Outfits Changes the Way We Move
     
     
    Latest in Features
    Actress Emilia Clarke
    Culture The Anti-Maxxing Issue: Featuring Emilia Clarke, Signature Scents, Practical Styling Tips and So Much More
    The best things to do this October
    Food and Drink The Agenda: Your October Just Got More Interesting
     
     
    A female worker in a garment factory in Dhakha, Bangladesh.
    Fashion The Human Cost Of Fashion’s Heat Crisis: “It Feels Like Being Locked Inside A Pressure Cooker At High Flame”
    Merit New Wave Review
    Fragrance I Smell Hundreds of Perfumes a Year—Merit’s New Fragrance Made Me Stop and Pay Attention
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.