Strange Bedfellows

August 10, 2020
Humor and serious talk mingle in this candid report on sex and sexually transmitted disease by physician and first-time author Park. Citing “epidemic increases” in transmission in the United States and elsewhere, she explores how modern dating apps like Tinder, with its 10 million daily active users, and Grindr, with its three million, may be contributing. Stressing a need for better sex ed and for public health specialists able to act as “scrappy sex detectives” in tracking down disease transmitters, Park draws awareness to the stigmas still surrounding STDs other than AIDs, such as genital herpes (for which “there are no colored ribbons, quilts, walk-a-thons, or celebrity benefit galas”) and to the “phallocentric” prejudices faced by doctors like Jeanne Marrazzo, who conducted important research into disease transmission among women at a time when the consensus was “no penis, no problem.” In a lighter vein, Park declares herself “the Lorax of pubic hair” after undergoing a painful bikini wax in Rio de Janeiro, and describes volunteering, while at UC Berkeley, as a live cervix model for premeds learning to do pelvic exams. Informative and frank, Park’s account of sex and STDs is ideal both for the curious and for those too embarrassed to ask.

November 1, 2020
A guided tour through the science of sexually transmitted infections. Park, a physician who specializes in STIs, begins with an explanation of terminology. "The subtitle...uses STD, as I felt that term would be most recognizable....But I use STI as much as I can throughout the book, because that is where I think we are headed eventually." Within this alternatingly fascinating, perplexing, and stomach-turning report, the author nonjudgmentally illustrates how STIs are one of the unfortunate forms of "interplay between sex and society as far back as the 1500s." She begins with genital herpes, a "sneaky" virus that hides in nerve cells and reemerges as a recurrent "unwelcome guest." A research conference in Brazil is the perfect setting for Park's meditation on the pros and cons of "pubic landscaping" while a scientific glance at vaginal microbiomes reveals the vulnerability of women to undesirable bacterial compositions. The author never glosses over a topic; each chapter is a thoughtful combination of scientific study and informative anecdote. Park's exuberance is obvious throughout, whether she is discussing how orgasmic meditation can mitigate the risks of STI contraction from sexual activity with multiple partners or the University of Washington's "two-week-long boot camp on STIs and HIV." Via lively, creative efforts to diffuse the lingering stigma surrounding genital warts, gonorrhea, syphilis, and other maladies, Park generously shares her knowledge and clinical experience, some of which is quite sobering--e.g., the possible connection between HPV and anal cancer and the more recent proliferation of terrifying antibiotic-resistant "superbug" STIs. The author also demystifies a variety of relevant issues, including HIV prevention and "female condoms," weaving in knowledgeable input from public health experts, vaccine researchers, focus groups, and even a network of contact-tracing "sex detectives." Fans of witty, meticulously researched chronicles of intriguing popular science topics--think Mary Roach--will devour this fluid mixture of scholarship and levity. A fresh, funny, sex-positive book that effectively destigmatizes sexual disease.

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January 1, 2021

MD Park creates an engrossing, fun, and frank discussion of the science and history behind sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and calls for us to have sex safely. Through Park's engaging writing, readers are brought into a scientific arena filled with safe-sex proponents, women's reproductive rights advocates, and LBGTQ+ and anti-racist allies, all seeking to overturn centuries of systemic discrimination inherent in sexual and reproductive health sciences. The strength of this book lies in Park's presentation of personal stories and the removal of the morality often tied to the topic of STDs, or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as they are sometimes known. She shares insight from her years of working at an STI clinic, and how the stigma of sex and disease impacts people of differing races, ages, and backgrounds. With sensitivity, she also addresses the history of diseases among people who are currently in jail or prison. Park further offers details on the history of the condom and the current research being done on vaccines for STDs. VERDICT A thoughtful, informative account for readers interested in public health and sexual health as well as those with an interest in the history of medicine. Park brings the right amount of care to an often-stigmatized subject.--Rachel M. Minkin, Michigan State Univ. Libs., East Lansing

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