What It Feels Like to Have Herpes for 10 Years
Ten years ago I was diagnosed with herpes. Ten is a big, round number. Double digits. Meaningful. Right?
Read MoreTag: STI stigma
What I Wish More People Knew About STIs
Most people in your life have an STI, they just don’t talk about it in casual conversation.
Read MoreASK ELLA: Should I Date Someone with Herpes?
Whatever you decide, I hope you treat your “someone” with the respect and thoughtfulness you’re showing now as you learn about their virus.
Read MoreWatch This Charming Short Film About Having Sex After a Herpes Diagnosis
People living with herpes are real, and we deserve to see our experiences in film. Here’s a start.
Read MoreWhy I Will Never Support Herpes or STI Dating Sites
Let me be very clear: I will never endorse an STI dating site. Period. Ever. You’ve got the wrong woman.
Read MoreSTIs aren’t a consequence. They’re inevitable. [Ella Dawson’s TEDx Talk With Transcript]
I don’t care how you got herpes. An STI is not a reflection of your character or a consequence of a bad decision.
Read MoreIt’s STD Awareness Month 2016. Why Aren’t We Celebrating?
STD awareness is celebrating us, the people who live with STDs and dare to be, y’know, okay.
Read MoreWhy Having A Boyfriend Doesn’t Cure Herpes
We’ve all read that essay: the woman who gets herpes because she caves to temptation just once and has a regrettable one-night-stand, but goes on to find happiness because she meets that one man who loves her just as she is, STI and all. You can find it in glossy women’s magazines and anonymous chat […]
Read MoreWhy STDRegistry.com Is Disgusting, and Outing Your Ex as STI+ Makes You an Asshole
I stopped. I went back and read the paragraph again. STDRegistry. STDRegistry. No. Absolutely not.
Read MoreTo The Woman Who Announced Her STI on Snapchat
I learned about you when I Googled myself—as a narcissist is wont to do—and discovered I’d been mentioned in an article about you on the Daily Star. I’m not entirely sure why my efforts to destigmatize herpes were mentioned in the article, which was a masterpiece of stigmatizing, sensationalized journalism that in no way respected […]
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Ella Dawson 