'She sleeps around, he's prepared': Women report massive double standard for carrying condoms

In a quiet corner of a supermarket aisle, a woman pulls a pack of condoms from her bag, then quickly hides it behind a carton of cereal. The gesture is familiar to many Australian shoppers, yet it carries a weight that feels less about the product and more about the judgment that follows. The 2026 Moments Sexual Wellness Study shows that when women are asked about other women carrying condoms, the most common responses are that the woman is “planning to have sex” (45.4%) or that she “sleeps around” (38.6%). Men, by contrast, are described as “prepared” 43.9% of the time. The numbers speak of a double standard that has deepened even as buying condoms has become easier.

The study reports that three‑quarters of Australian women hide, disguise, or abandon a condom purchase. Many wait until a shop is quiet, buy online to avoid the in‑person experience, or ask someone else to buy on their behalf. The act of concealing a condom has become a routine for many, a small rebellion against a culture that still stigmatizes female sexual agency. When a woman’s purchase is hidden behind a box of cereal, the act is less about protecting a sexual health tool and more about protecting a reputation.

Eleanor Hadley, a sex educator quoted in the study, notes that public perception has improved. “We’ve spent a decade making the public part of this easierbetter shelf placement, self‑checkouts, more open conversation,” she says. Yet the private part has not seen the same progress. “The stigma didn’t dissolve. It relocated,” Hadley observes. The shift from public to private judgment means that the social cost of carrying a condom now falls on the individual, not the store.

The study highlights that Australian women aged 18‑45 still feel uncomfortable buying or carrying condoms. Even though more women feel comfortable purchasing condoms than a decade ago, the feeling of judgment has increased. The stigma has migrated from the aisles to the pockets, forcing women to adopt tactics such as disguising condoms within other items or abandoning them altogether. The result is that two‑thirds of Australian women have gone without a condom because neither partner had one, a statistic that underscores the real health risks tied to social discomfort.

In response, condom brands like Moments Wellness are offering discreet delivery services and subscriptions. The idea is simple: a condom should sit beside coffee, deodorant, or lip balm without requiring a cover. While the stigma has not been fully broken, the study’s findings aim to spark conversations that normalize women’s assertiveness about their own sexual health, just as it has for men. The hope is that future generations will see condoms as a routine item, not a source of shame.

As someone who has watched the conversation around sexual health shift in my own community, I see this study as a mirror reflecting the broader cultural reluctance to accept female sexual autonomy. The numbers are not just statistics; they are a call to action for retailers, educators, and policymakers to address the hidden barriers that still exist.

The study’s final message is clear: while the aisles have become more welcoming, the private spaces where women must still conceal their health choices are far from neutral. If we want to move past this double standard, we must confront the stigma that has moved from the store to the individual. The next step is to create environmentsboth public and privatewhere carrying a condom is as unremarkable as carrying a bottle of water.