"If you don't want a baby; don't have a baby."
So, I hear that a male birth control pill is nearly complete. This could be revolutionary. Could this shift the responsibility out of the sole hands of women? If men can prevent unintentional pregnancies--and without having to sacrifice their own pleasure--will they?
I think of how profound it must have been for women to finally be able to control their own fertility, privately and relatively easily. Although it changed sex for women, I'm going to go ahead and assert that men don't need to be released from sexual repression. But many men, I think, need to be released from the idea that they have no control about when and how they make a baby, that they have to rely on the honesty and careful consideration of a woman. Of course, this hasn't actually been true for years and years (hello, condoms!) But if men can make that decision on their own, it strikes one more excuse for"I didn't plan this! I didn't want this! I don't want to pay for this!" Will that be enough to have men to agree not to make babies they don't want? Wouldn't that be revolutionary? When people parent (or don't) children who they don't want and can't afford, bad things happen. If there is one more way to interrupt that cycle, couldn't that change everything?
Will it?
6 years ago
2 comments:
Oooh, great post!
It doesn't make sense why the pill for men has not been completed. It can't be that complicated, come on! It's about being afraid to take a huge shift in everything we know about sex roles when it comes to having or not having babies.
I also don't think that men are ready for this responsibility.
That's the thing, isn't it? Shifting the gender conditioning we rely on. I see how hard it is to do with my children, so changing the minds of an entire country is huge. And, while men may not be ready for this responsibility, I say put your big boy drawers on, 'cause women just might demand that you get ready, guys!
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