the case of male contraceptives
November 1, 2006 by thinking girl
L>T had a question for me:
“hi! this is off the topic, but i immedietly thought of you when i read this & what you’d have to say about it. male birth control“
Funny you should ask…
We’ve been hearing about the coming male contraceptives for a LONG time now. I have, as usual, two minds about this.
On the one hand, sounds great. Men who wish to remain childless or don’t want any more children would have the chance to take matters more securely into their own hands. Some guys I know feel at risk that their one-nighters are going to get pregnant and then they are going to get stuck supporting a child they never wanted, so male contraceptives seem like a good solution to that. Also, nice that the onus isn’t fully on the female partner to avoid conception, and in a committed relationship, it would be pretty great to share more equitably conception prevention. Many women have a hard time with birth control, and so it would be great to have a partner who could take on that responsibility with the same degree of effectiveness.
However. Would men use it? I’m not sure all men would be interested in male contraceptives. First of all, it removes the body’s ability to produce sperm (at least the one the above-linked article talks about does). For a lot of guys, this might in itself be a problem, as low or no sperm counts kinda ring of low masculinity. I’m not saying this is a valid connection to make, in fact I think it’s ridiculous with a capital R, but there it is. Also, men are, for the most part, used to not having to worry too much about baby-making, and so it might be hard to get them on the bandwagon. This would take, in my opinion, a massive campaign of consciousness raising. Finally, I think it *might* lead to less condom use and a higher incidence of STIs. Still, it seems like a lot of men think about using condoms only to prevent pregnancy, and don’t worry much about getting an infection. As I saw on Oprah last week when she interviewed 6 HIV+ women, apparently there are men out there who would be willing to have unprotected sex with a woman who has told them she has HIV!!! I mean, how stupid can you get? Seriously! Thank god the women were emphatic about always using protection - as much to prevent reinfecting themselves with a different strain of HIV as to prevent transmission to their partner. And it is certainly fairly common that if a guy thinks he can get away without using a condom, he will. (Not all guys are like this of course, but enough are that it is a common perception/stereotype.) And a lot of that centres around whether or not the woman is using a form of birth control. So with that massive campaign I think would be necessary to encourage men to use contraceptives, it is imperative that condom use is strenuously advocated in addition.
So, that’s what I think. What do you folks think? Guys, if given the chance would you use a contraceptive? And, while I have you here, why on earth do guys try to not wear condoms?
Well, I would, especially if there are no side effects. You can’t be too careful.
In casual relationships, the STD protection you get from a condom would still make more sense, but otherwise I agree with Ryan.
Uh, is that like a serious question? I know it may not be PC to acknowledge this, but the difference in sensation between wrapped and unwrapped is Not Trivial.
In fact, for all the reputed (and in fact largely empty) claims of STD protection from circumcision, the fact is that the highly circumcised U.S. has much greater rates of STDs than minimally-circumcised Japan and Western Europe. Circumcision removes important nerve tissue from the penis and may desensitize the now-permanently-exposed penile tissue that remains. Putting 2 and 2 together, it would make sense to speculate that perhaps the reduced sensitivity of circumcised genitalia leads to greater resistance towards the use of condoms, and thus results in higher, not lower, rates of STDs.
(Sorry if that’s a little OT, TG, but you did open that can of, uh, worms.)
I don’t disagree with all your ideas. My concern is that while its a great idea in theory (and who knows, maybe in practice as well, only time will tell) I think it will be more useful for men who are in committed heterosexual relationships. For those who are just playing around, maybe not so much. For those women who are not in committed heterosexual relationships and don’t have that trust, I think we will still have to take things into our own hands… You can really only trust yourself.
Sign me up. Guys certainly worry about making babies. You’re right about the possibility of this becoming a pretext for no condom use at all, but I definitely think men would use it. In the case of the one-nighters you mentioned this could be an issue. But for monogamous couples this could be a huge success. And presumably STDs are less of an issue when you know your partner.
Here’s another question: if a guy has zero sperm count, does that mean he can “fake it”, too?
Count me in (if no side-effect, of course, and not permanent). I agree with you, however, that this could lead to less condom use and a higher incidence of STIs, because, as we have seen in recent years, ad campaigns about (female) contraceptive present them as the ultimate solution, and make no mention of STIs.
And STIs are on the rise (even syphilis, for frack sake); many people also seem to think that, since there are now treatments available to help fight it, that AIDS is no longer a problem.
Well, I certainly wouldn’t not wear a condom if there was no other protection being used, thats just stupidity. I guess I would use this, but probably not immediately- I’d prefer to see if any side effects develop. Also, no sperm are produced? Does that mean… nothing comes out? That’d be kind of weird.
Jenn,
All this talk is definitely going to bring some more weird Google searches your way!
There’s a word for women who leave birth control up to men: mothers!
Ryan
“You can’t be too careful”
I hear that. On both the no-babies and the no-STIs front.
ballgame
yes, it was indeed a serious question. silly me thinking that long-term health was more important than full heightened sensation. A couple guys I know say they like using condoms because it gives them a bit more “staying power” - longer vs. more sensation-al (and with an ultimate end that is still quite nice!) sex is another dimension to think about.
I think you’re onto something there with the circumcision=desensitization=not using condoms= higher STI count. Interesting. I have always thought that circumcision would lead to less sensation through constant exposure, damage to nerve endings etc. You explanation makes perfect sense to me.
onewomanarmy
welcome! thanks for your comment. You’re right - you can only trust yourself. Which is why I think guys should be all over this new option for them. When it’s available.
Matthew
I think guys can fake it sometimes anyway, can’t they? Esp. using a condom…
Marc Andre
yeah it’s crazy that STIs are still on the rise, considering we ALL know that condoms prevent STIs much of the time. I think it’s partly carelessness, and partly due to either lack of power or lack of honesty/fidelity (or both) in intimate relationships where one party cheats and brings an STI home to his/her partner who is not in the practice of using condoms, or where one party refuses to use condoms.
Mr K
not to worry, semen would still be produced, just not sperm in that semen. so there would still be ejaculate.
Matthew (again)
I’m not sure I could get many more weird Google searches than I already do… I hesitate to name them here for fear of increasing those searches even more. Freaks, creeps, criminals. That’s who else my blog attracts. Besides you guys, of course.
Nubian Nerd
welcome - thanks for the link-up on your blog. Nice pics!
Yeah, you said it. I think it just comes down to: If you don’t want to have babies, then you gotta make sure you’re looked after, no matter who you are. Protecting yourself from STIs might be a bit trickier, since it’s not always up to you whether a condom is used.
Funny there is so much concern about side effects. Do you guys have a sense of what kind of side effects are common for most birth control options? Most women struggle to find something that works for them, especially with hormonal methods. Risks of serious health problems exist as well: I personally know a woman who had a stroke at the age of 26 or 27 from birth control. Of course nobody wants side effects, but boy do women take a whole lot of shit in terms of side effects from their birth control. And it’s just taken as part of the deal, you know? Many women just accept it, perhaps because of the way society holds women who are sexually active.
Hey! thanks for acknowledging my thought. The question for me is how far will men go to compromise what they percieve as their masculinity? I don’t think they realize the risks of the hormonal interruptions that birth control intails & the implications of…it’s a question of prioritys, isn’t it?
Hi L>T
sure, no problem! Yes, I think that might be an issue for some men. I wonder to what extent male hormones would be interrupted or altered. It’s funny to me that a lot of women look at birth control as regulating their “naturally” unruly female hormones. It seems to me a lot of women think this way. I tend to think about it as interfering with my body’s hormonal balance. I’m much happier without hormonal birth control. It made me crazy.
I think maybe more guys would go for a non-hormonal option, as long as it wasn’t a pain in the ass to use it/have it “installed”.
you’re right, it’s all about priorities. everything to do with avoiding parenthood is a matter of tradeoffs, from abstinence to abortion and everything in between.
“Do you guys have a sense of what kind of side effects are common for most birth control options?” I don’t know about the others, but I do. Actually, many of my female friends went off the pills because of these side effects. For them, it’s no longer an option.
The difference between using a condom and not using a condom are no different than then sensations of standing in a downpour with a raincoat, hat and umbrella, and standing in a downpour wearning cotton pajamas.
Yeah, I am aware of the health effects of female contraception, which is why I’d probably be willing to take some male thing- I just don’t want to start taking it and become infertile because the tests didn’t show a problem.
Marc Andre
glad to hear. it’s too bad that most birth control options have side effects or efficacy problems. I just got rid of my second IUD because my body rejects them after about 2 years. My doctor said to me, “You’ve got one tough cervix!” Nice to know. Also sucky about this is that having these things installed are not exactly fun. Oh well.
Ryan
yeah, I know sensation is limited, and that is totally a drag. So, what’s the solution in a world rampant with STIs? I mean, there’s got to be a tradeoff with everything, right?
oh, so no difference at all then!
Mr K
I’m sure if there’s a male contraceptive put out on the market, it will be the most highly tested and studied medical option available to date. They’ve learned so much from female contraception that they don’t want to make the same sorts of mistakes with male contraception.
Ladies, a question: how many of you have had your hormone levels checked prior to being put on hormonal birth control? It just occurred to me that doing that would make the most sense in terms of avoiding unnecessary side effects, to match up a medication to your own hormones as much as possible. Does that make sense to you too? And I’m willing to guess that unless you had something else “wrong” with your health, you’ve never had any hormone levels checked, am I right? So, if you’ve had an experience like me, you were just put on one BCP and if there were too many side effects, you tried a different one, and so on and so on, like trial and error, until you found one that had the least side effects. yes? does anyone know anything more about this? would my idea of hormone testing prior to BCP medication make the most sense in the world or what?
I never took birth control pills. our main option back then. my sister had one of those deadly IUD things & ended up with a tubal pregnacy & uterine cancer by 30.
Now girls have so many more options. that’s good at least.
Hey TG:
Have you checked out this article on cbc.ca? I think you’d find it interesting given the topic of male condoms.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/03/condoms-youth.html
Miss you like crazy and talk soon!
Love,
Ang
XXOO
L>T
oh dear, so sorry to hear about your sister - that’s terrible. IUDs used to be so terrible and unsafe. Thank goodness they are much better now. yes, more options is good. I agree.
Ang
Hi! thanks for the link, I don’t know how I missed that one, since that is my homepage. Very interesting, social pressures around gender roles determine condom use. quelle surprise.
miss you too! an email is on the way!