Though Erica already wrote a great piece about the BBC article on the new male contraceptive shot, I'd like to share a that-makes-my-blood-boil observation:

"Previous attempts to develop an effective and convenient male contraceptive have encountered problems over reliability and side effects, such as mood swings and a lowered sex drive."

So, men won't take a hormonal contraceptive out of concern for their sex drive? Meanwhile, the contraceptive burden is still placed on women, even though women are supposed to "just deal" with the potential side effects of birth control pills (according to PPF, the most common of which are breakthrough bleeding, breast tenderness, and nausea and vomiting)?

Now, I am a HUGE proponent of women being in control of their reproductive health and being able to choose whether and when to have children. But I can't help but rage at the double-standard! Are an affected sex drive and mood swings really enough to dissuade men from sharing in contraceptive responsibility? Or is this a bias within the medical/pharmaceutical industry that assumes that men would not inconvenience themselves in the slightest in the name of contraception, relying instead on their partners?

For instance, a 2005 survey of over 9,000 in 9 different countries found that:

"Overall, 55% of survey respondents reported being willing, or very willing, to use a new method of male fertility control [hormonal agents administered orally, by injection or implant]."

(From: Heinemann, et al (2005). Attitudes toward male fertility control: results of a multinational survey on four continents. Hum Reprod, 20(2), 549-556)

Something doesn't add up.

2

You recommended

2 Comments

May 7, 2009 4:00 PM

[0+]  Dor said:

I feel you! It's frustrating how everything reproductive is considered a woman's thing. Hopefully there will be an effective, mainstream male contraception in the future so that not only do we share the protection responsibility between the genders, but have a compounded rate of protection as well.

I  Liked  Liked this comment  |  Reply |

May 7, 2009 8:38 PM

[0+]  instrumentjamlord said:

You have to admit that a contraceptive that works by making you not feel like having sex kind of misses the mark, doesn't it?

Second, there IS an effective, mainstream male contraceptive. It's called a condom. If you don't like The Pill and its side effects, make your partner put on a "raincoat". Pretty good at preventing STD's, too, or so I hear, so there's another reason to use them.

I  Liked  Liked this comment  |  Reply |

Leave a comment

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)