A girl can get pregnant from swimming in water that has been ejaculated into.

 A woman can become pregnant from sitting on a toilet seat with ejaculate on it.

You can get an STD from a public restroom’s toilet.

My informant heard all of these unconventional pregnancy/sexs methods when she was in high school. She recalls being a bit skeptical about them back then when she was a 14 year old high school freshmen, but now she finds them absurd and laughable. She thinks that people continue to tell these folk beliefs is because the world is seen as a dirty place. As girls grow from children into young women they feel particularly vulernable to the world they can no longer be shielded from by their parents. Even in places that should be harmless, like a hotel swimming pool or your neighbor’s toilet can be dangerous because you never know who using it before you and what they were doing there. A thought like that can be scary and yet there is little that can be done about it, besides making sure to cover the toilet seat and to never go swimming.

I agree with what my informant said, but I also think there might another reason that these folk beliefs are spread, especially among young teenagers. I think these beliefs can act as a scapegoat for people’s sexual exploits. If a young woman who is believed to be a virgin by her family and friends becomes pregnant, the story goes from being condemning to tragic if she was impregnated by some force outside of her control. If she was engaging in a harmless and innocent activity, such as using the bathroom or going for a swim, when she became pregnant she can’t really be blamed for what has happened. Similarly to those who contract STDs from public restrooms again it alleviates blame of any frowned upon sexual activity.

Annotation: The folk belief that swimming in a pool of water that has been ejaculated into was used as a basis for a lawsuit in 2009. A woman sued a hotel in Egypt after claiming that her 13 year old daughter become pregnant from swimming in their swimming pool.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Doyle, H. (2009, July 09). Teen pregnant after ‘swimming in pool’. The Sun, Retrieved from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2525921/Teen-pregnant-after-swimming-in-pool.html