(i had to do it)

just what is the male “role”?

don’t get infected?

I grew up in a state (Utah) where birth control was never talked about when I was a teenager. I was brought up that you only have sex when you are married, so I never really worried about it. As I grew older, the “waiting till you were married” was thrown out the window.

I’ve taken birth control for 8 years and luckily I haven’t had any side effects. (Including libido, moody, etc) This may have something to do with me taking the active pills (skipping the last week) for 3 months and giving my body a week break. Besides that the point is Drug Companies are “trying” to replicate hormones in our body, and whenever you put something foreign in your body, there’s a potential for side effects.

I’m glad that women have the right to decide if they want a child or not. It hurts knowing people like your grandmother had to go through that. I also agree that guys have a responsibility to protect themselves too. STD’s are still at risk, and even condoms won’t give you 100% guarantee from them.

Great post Amy!

The pill should not stand as the end of the conversation or science of reproductive and contraceptive rights.

The invention and availability of the pill was an inflection point in human rights and women’s free will and free choice. That does not mean it is the final word, so to speak, and the ability to reflect on its contributions and impacts – both positive and negative is in itself a luxury and a responsibility. Who was it who said that freedom must be earned by every generation?
This type of reflection is what is required to enable the next generation of progress in understanding gender, equality and free will.

jamesbt: @robotchampion See — http://bit.ly/ajGJ7x — http://bit.ly/9Mse3X — (non-pharma family planning methods). Does you brother in Namibia know them?

Amy, so well said! I loved your commentary. I think the beauty of living in this country is that women do have the options of birth control which are both effective and affordable. For me personally, it’s anything but liberating. Taking hormones daily which alter my mood and libido is definitely not what I consider to be an acceptable option for me any longer (although I agree it’s probably a dream come true for both pharmaceuticals and men!). Don’t get me wrong, I used the pill for several years, and it served its purpose, and I know many women who are happy with it. But now after being off of it for several years, I truly notice a huge difference with my body and I won’t ever go back to taking it. Now that I’m older, and realize my body deserves better. And maybe someday there will be better options out there for women, and hopefully more focus will be placed on the man sharing in the responsibility. But that won’t happen until women start demanding it and realize they deserve better.

-J

But it’s time for us to move on to something much better. The Pill just isn’t good enough. It has wide-spread side effects that are physical and psychological. What about safe, non-hormonal options? Cervical caps, for example, are safe and highly effective. But no company in the US produces them any more because they cost about $5 and you only need one every few years. The Pill – $50/month or more, in the pockets of drug companies. Why would they cut off that gravy train?

The establishment push to be on the Pill is huge. From the time I was very young – before I started needing birth control for anything – every doctor I saw tried to push the Pill. Yes, they want to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But even as an adult, I have been bullied into being on the Pill by docs who deny or minimize the serious side-effects.

Like you, I tried them all – and wound up with depression, mood swings, weight gain, and a libido so dead that I had no use for birth control in the first place. It was like being a half-dead zombie, or some female equivalent of castration.

These days, my partner often comments that I have sex-drive “like a man.” No – I have a sex drive like a healthy, biologically-intact woman – a woman who isn’t on the Pill!

SO: What is to be done? Social norms that make reproductive decision-making solely the woman’s concern and drug companies who profit extensively from the Pill … Where does the impetus for change even start to come from?