Birth control and the Pressure on Women

I have decided to look at something that everyone sees as “normal” in today’s society.

Before you immediately jump to conclusions about this article, please note that I am not advocating premarital sex, taking the pill, or anything of the like.  I am merely saying that if it is out there, it needs to have adequate research.  I also hope that those of you who are against the whole idea remember that some women are forced to take the pill for reasons unrelated to sexual activity, out of medical necessity.  Some women have irregular periods and experience hormone fluctuations which affect their body in negative ways and are thus prescribed the pill.  If it is being given out for medical reasons as well, that is even more reason to provide adequate research on its effects and risks.  Finally, I just want us to examine what we all consider "normal"; we are in a society where it is "okay" for women to take more responsibility, risk, and even sometimes, stigma, to avoid getting pregnant.  We are responsible as if a man has no role in pregnancy at all, and he does not have to face any additional health risks or trouble.



Ladies, if you do not want to get pregnant then you have to take birth control.  Just go to your doctor, tell them you are sexually active, and they will do a few tests and give you the pills.  You take one every day around the same time, and there you are.  In fact it even regulates your period!

Sounds great right?

Wrong. 

Health risks

There are other countless health risks such as high blood pressure, hypertension, changes in vision, increased risk of heart attack, blood clots (sometimes fatal), gallbladder disease, gallstones, resistance to insulin, immune system suppression, strokes, tumors, ectopic pregnancies, cervical cancer and even jaundice.

Then there are the “regular” side affects such as changes in mood, including depression.  Obviously it’s perfectly fine for a female to experience things on a daily basis since we are “more emotional” already anyway right?  It’s fine, we deal with it all the time.  There’s also the unpleasant 1-2 weeks of vomiting at least one of your meals out while your body adjusts to birth control.  Very nice.

Lack of Research

There is not nearly enough research on the effects of birth control or even what interferes with its effectiveness and what does not.  For instance, did you know several supplements, even natural ones, can make birth control less effective?  One such example is St. John’s Wort.  No doctor ever told me this, and it is not even widely-known in research.  This was through my own research that I later found this out.  I had to go out of my way to check; nobody told me when I was buying it, there was no warning on any labels, and nothing to even make me suspicious.  These kinds of things should not be hidden and hard to find; they should be out in the open for all of us to know.  There also needs to be more research as to the effects of smoking either nicotine or even marijuana and how that might interfere with birth control.

Still, we need more definitive answers.  Telling me what “may” or “may not” happen does not really help me.  Tell me why something might happen, what is more likely to happen, what is less likely to happen, and for what reasons.  The fact that these really serious issues are brushed over like they are nothing means that people are not taking the risks seriously in accordance with their own bodies.  When you hear “may happen” you think “probably won’t happen” and never think about it again, until you’re in the hospital and you lose your life and the whole thing comes as a shock to everyone around you.

Sexism

The main issue that lies behind this lack of research is the fact that this is a female-related issue.  This makes it both i) taboo as women should just be quiet and deal with whatever is thrown their way quietly, and ii) sexism in the sense that female medical issues are never taken as seriously or as widely-researched as male medical issues; just look up the differences between heart attack symptoms for males and females; I bet you didn’t know that the symptoms will be different; oh wait, that’s because nobody educates us on this).

Additionally I’ve noticed that it is women that have to worry about taking the pill on time, women that have to worry about missing one or two, women that have to go to the trouble of making sure to go to the doctor regularly, women that have to deal with all of the symptoms that they hardly even know about.

What I would like to know is why there has never been a “pill” for men.  Something to control the flow of sperm perhaps; something to prevent it from impregnating a woman.  But no.  Instead, a woman is faced with the burden alone.  Doctors don’t even think that such a thing should be developed because women got it covered.  Why should men worry?  It’s the woman that gets pregnant.  Not like it takes two people to make a baby or anything like that. 

All men have to worry about is slapping on a piece of latex and then taking it off, and sometimes if they are aware a female is on the pill, not even that much. 

-Nancy L.