We acknowledge Australia’s First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and give respect to Elders – past and present – and through them to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Collection

2005/237/1 Contraceptive device, 'Bikini Condom' female condom, latex / paper, made by International Prophylactics Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America, 1993. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 2005/237/1 Contraceptive device, 'Bikini Condom' female condom, latex / paper, made by International Prophylactics Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America, 1993. Click to enlarge

'Bikini Condom' contraceptive for women

Made
In the early 1990s, with the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the increase, three brands of female condom were introduced to the USA market: the 'Bikini Condom', 'Women's Choice' and 'Reality'. Called 'vaginal pouches' by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) they worked as both a birth control device and as a barrier to disease.

Manufacturers and health workers claim that the main advantage of female condoms is that they give women control over contraception and the prevention of sexually …

Summary

Object No.

2005/237/1

Object Statement

Contraceptive device, 'Bikini Condom' female condom, latex / paper, made by International Prophylactics Inc, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America, 1993

Physical Description

The 'Bikini Condom' is a barrier contraceptive and disease prevention device, designed to line the vagina during sexual intercourse. This particular kind of device is called a 'female condom' or a 'vaginal pouch'. Manufactured all in one piece from thin, cream-coloured latex, the 'Bikini Condom' consists of a belt, which fits around the hips, attached to a pouch-like tube, which is inverted to fit inside the vagina. It has been described as looking like a G-string panty with a condom pouch.

This example of the 'Bikini Condom' comes complete with its outer packaging, a pink-coloured box which would have originally held two of the condoms in individual wrapping.

Short URL

https://ma.as/354618

Production

Made

Notes

According to the packaging, the Bikini Condom was manufactured by International Prophylactics Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

History

Notes

The two examples of a female condom, 'Bikini Condom' and 'Women's Choice' are samples or 'investigational devices' that were obtained by Dr Edith Weisberg on a trip to the USA in 1993. They were used by her in talks and demonstrations in her role as Director of Research at the Sydney Centre for Reproductive Health Research (a division of FPA Health, formerly the Family Planning Association of NSW). Dr Weisberg lent the devices to the Powerhouse Museum for display in the exhibition 'Taking precautions: the story of contraception'. She subsequently donated them to the museum.

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Dr Edith Weisberg, 2005

Acquisition Date

16 November 2005

Cite this Object

Harvard

'Bikini Condom' contraceptive for women 2020, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 14 May 2021, <https://ma.as/354618>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/354618 |title='Bikini Condom' contraceptive for women |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=14 May 2021 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

We want to hear from you

I know more about this object   I have a question about this object   
Creative Commons Licence

Copyright for the above image is held by MAAS and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please contact MAAS Rights and Permissions for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives licence

  Submit an image license enquiry.