Technology Diary 2: Birth Control

The piece of technology I would like to speak about for this week is Birth Control. When it first came out, different forms of birth control allowed women to take control of their reproductive decisions and it was met with a lot of stigma from society. Women who used diaphragms or went on the pill were looked down upon as “whores” and some health care professionals who gave out forms of birth control, particularly those who worked with universities and other academic institutions, were threatened with termination of contract if they continued handing these items out to their patients. We have come a long way since then and now women have control with easier access to contraceptives. Politics comes into play often and a woman’s right to choose comes into question way to often but Planned Parenthood has a lot to boast about.

My question is that with a pill for women, why do we not yet have a pill for men? There are so many products that enhance the sexual experience for men or help them go for longer periods of time so I do not understand why there is not enough funding for research to find something that would prevent sperm from being released besides just a condom. The pill for women started as an increase in control but has quickly turned into sole responsibility of the female. Making a pill for men would mean that they would now have to share the responsibility if something were to go wrong.

The other factor is the modes of birth control that exist for men is mainly used superficially, meaning that a condom is temporary assistance that fits like a glove. The pill on the other hand has to do with hormonal changes and if a woman is not on the right form of the pill or the patch or any other type that delivers chemical signals, the side effects can be really harmful. The birth control disclaimers always warn to stop use if thoughts of suicide begin forming. Why must women put such powerful things in her body to ensure that she does not have a child before she is ready. As we speak about traditional gender roles and how they need to be broken, we must bring the issue of birth control to the men as well. Women need to work and the age women are deciding to have children is getting older. The responsibility must be on both the male and the female equally and if such a pill was devised, it would help share the responsibility and further decrease the chances of an unplanned pregnancy.