Well, the issue is not as simple as it might first appear. Sure, there are still some technical hurdles to overcome, but the delay in developing a MBCP has definite political, economic and even discriminatory aspects to it.
Barriers to entry do in fact exist for the male pill—disempowering barriers that men should most certainly be aware of—including those set up by sexist women who belittle male reproductive accountability, unfair gender biases, self-serving feminists who refuse to relinquish reproductive power, and a risk averse Big Pharma.
And men themselves are also to blame. Far too many guys have gotten comfortable over the idea that birth-control pills are exclusive to women. Most men have not yet realized the implications of having access to a pill of their own.
Consequently (and quite disturbingly), conversations about the male pill have migrated outside the sphere of male interests. Women tend to frame the issue as it pertains to their concerns and their needs, while politicians and pharmaceutical companies neglect the issue, unsure as to what it means to them. Ultimately, however, this is about men. It’s about men gaining fair and equal access to a powerful contraceptive that will finally allow them to have the same control over their reproductive processes as women—an outcome that will greatly benefit male interests. How the male pill works
An international consortium of physicians recently revealed a formula for “safe, effective and reversible” hormonal contraception for males.
The breakthrough involves progestin, which is found in women’s birth-control pills and the male sex hormone testosterone. Progestin helps suppress ovulation when used in an oral contraceptive and it appears to function in the same way for men, suppressing the rate and extent of sperm production. The developers claim that this contraceptive will be as effective as a vasectomy.
Men will have to take the pill for about 2 to 3 months to deplete their sperm. It will take a similar amount of time to restore normal levels of fertility once off the pill.
Bring it For the most part, both men and women appear to be in favor of the MBCP. Trouble is, most men and women don’t truly understand why it’s so important. Particularly women. Now, I don’t mean to begrudge women their reasons for welcoming the male pill. It’s all good. I think it’s great that couples will finally be able to share the burden of birth control. And it will undoubtedly be a welcome alternative for those women who cannot take the pill or other contraceptives (of which there are many).
There’s also the issue of accessibility. A 2004 report from the Reproductive Health Technologies Project calls contraceptive availability an “unfinished revolution.” Indeed, we need more contraception and more options. But this is fundamentally an issue of male reproductive control
This is a male issue about male reproduction.
And all that it entails.
The pill will resolve a number problems that men typically face.
It will be dramatically less invasive and severe than a vasectomy—a procedure that can be reversed, but one that’s quite involved and not always possible.
The male pill will also prove to be much more reliable than condoms or withdrawal which can have worst-case failure rates of 15 and 27 percent respectively (!!!).
Also, the male pill will have a profound sociological impact similar to what happened after the advent of the female birth-control pill. This will prove to be a seminal event as far as the men’s movement is concerned.
In fact, a strong case can be made that the delay in the male pill has been caused by an underdeveloped male social movement. The sense of urgency to develop a MBCP has been quelled by the dissenters and the disconnected. Men need to be aware of those forces that work to prevent the advent of not just the male pill, but a cohesive and powerful men’s rights movement itself.
Negative male stereotyping
The possibility of a male pill has caused a number of women to pause and reflect on the implications.
Should a woman believe a guy who says, “Trust me, baby, I’m on the pill.”?
Most women would likely say no. It’s doubtful that women would put faith in men to stick to a strict schedule of birth-control pill popping. Men are supposed to be untrustworthy and irresponsible, right? After all, they’re not the ones who would have to deal with a pregnancy.
Aside from what this says about negative male stereotyping, this complaint neglects three fundamental issues.
First, people must take control over their own reproductive processes and not rely on the other person. This goes for both men and women. The MBCP will finally help men know for certain that they have virtually no chance of impregnating a partner.
Which immediately brings to mind the problem of trust that many men are confronted with today. Should men trust women when they make the same claim? How many times has a man been duped into fatherhood by an opportunistic woman?
Well, according to a Cornell University study, over a million American births each year result from pregnancies which men did not intend. What does this say about female reproductive accountability?
The male pill, will at the very least, help men avoid this risk.
Second, the MBCP strictly deals with contraception. It will do nothing to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The advent of a male pill will not eliminate the need to wear a condom as far as STDs are concerned.
And third, most men do in fact deal with a pregnancy and the introduction of an unexpected child—be it parental or fiscal responsibilities. There are more accountable single dads who have joint custody of their children than ever before in history.
An unwelcome power shift As Glenn Sacks has said, “Power is the reward which comes with responsibility.”
Indeed, because women have had to bear the burden of contraception, they have gained control over an integral component of human life, namely reproduction. The MBCP threatens to wrest that control from women to men.
Quite understandably, some feminists are concerned about this possibility. And, I’m sorry to say, that’s too bad.
Men are currently at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the choice of reproduction—but this is now set to change.
As an example, according to the 2004 National Scruples and Lies Survey (which polled 5,000 women in the United Kingdom), 42% of women claimed they would lie about contraception in order to get pregnant, regardless of the wishes of their partners.
Wow.
Other evidence suggests that over 10% of children turn out not to be the offspring of the expected father when DNA tests are done, suggesting that many men obliviously help in the raising of children who are not actually theirs.
This is no laughing matter. Child support rates are increasing, with some fathers giving their ex’s as much as 15 to 25% of their take home pay per child. And it’s widely known that fathers are second class citizens in the courts. For example, in some U.S. states a father cannot present DNA evidence to disprove paternity.
For those men who truly don’t want to have children—something that is completely within their rights—the MBCP will help them achieve that level of control.
And again, female claims that this will allow men to forever shirk their paternal responsibilities and live in perpetual adolescence are not just gross generalizations, but sexist statements of the highest order.
The Man is holding men down
Quite surprisingly, Big Pharma has dragged their feet in developing the MBCP. Despite over 20 years of research, they claim that there’s little money to be made.
Men are clearly not showing Big Pharma that they want a male pill.
Research shows that most males are not ready for personal birth control. A recent MSN-Zogby poll revealed that only 14% of Americans would definitely take it or insist that their partner take it. And tellingly, the study indicated that women are slightly more excited about the prospect than men.
While at the same time other studies show that men do in fact want alternative contraception options.
What’s going on here, guys?
Perhaps confusion has something to do with it. There’s a very underdeveloped sense of a male collective consciousness. It appears that men, for the most part, don’t yet realize the importance of reproductive control—something women have, for obvious reasons, been very aware of for quite some time now.
Some men, for example, dismiss the male pill on account of their fear that it would transgress their masculinity.
This is exactly the mentality that has to be abandoned and replaced by some more forward thinking ideas that will work help equalize not just reproductive options, but other gender issues that set men at a disadvantage or limit biological potential.
Times they are a changin’
Perhaps I’m understating the fact that 14% of men are ready to use the pill. That’s a significant number unto itself. Maybe it’s a positive sign that attitudes are changing and that broader acceptance is on its way.
In all likelihood, demand will probably increase once the pill is finally made available. It will become real for men once it becomes a real option.
And hopefully it will wake men up to the possibilities. Issues of gender, sexuality and reproduction are not just women’s issues. They’re a vital element of the collective human condition.
George Dvorsky serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. George is the Director of Operations for Commune Media, an advertising and marketing firm that specializes in marketing science. George produces Sentient Developments blog and podcast.
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COMMENTS
I found his article a bit condescending where he implies that men will claim to be on the pill, but not, or that they can't remember to take it. Women have been doing this with their pill for years. In addition, women have gotten more entitlements for contraceptive failure including abortion and even legal abandonment while men's legal rights in challenging paternity suits have been constricted.
Recently, Father's Rights Advocate Jeffery Leving participated in an interesting panel on CBC Radio about the male birth control pill and patch. The radio show, called The Current, is archived on their website. Listen to it at:
Whether women trust guys to take this is all but irrelevant: there is absolutely nothing that prevents them from continuing to take their own pill entirely independently of the guy's decision. What is more, if both partners are using a birth control method with a success rate in the high ninety percents, the chance of unplanned pregnancy is effectively nil.
Most commenters however miss the critical point here: this pill derives its power precisely BECAUSE women will be unable to tell whether their partners are taking it. By providing guys with a reliable, non-surgical way to shield the state of their fertility from their partners - something women have been able to do themselves since the pill was invented - men will be able to refuse to have children except on terms they agree with. Furthermore, women will have no way of knowing whether they can do any better by switching partners. This is THE pivotal issue in gender relations. Everything flows from this and combined with ticking biological clocks it will force a renegotiation of the entire inter-gender construct. For that reason feminists will fight tooth and nail to obstruct/halt research.
If such obstruction fails, the effects will be most keenly felt beyond the US as the US will be shielded in the short and medium term by its excess of military power, the Christianity of many of its immigrants and its relative geographical isolation. Elsewhere, with men refusing to have children, women will be forced to make concessions or risk being over-run by rapidly-reproducing Muslims seeking to introduce Sharia. They will, so-to-speak, be stuck between a rock and a hard thing.
You covered nearly everything in the article. Good. However, I think the media is more to blame than so-called feminists when it comes to barriers. That is, the media go looking for a cheap laugh as they so often do, so regarding that subject, they interview women, who say, "I wouldn't trust him!" rather than interviewing, say, divorced men. Besides, if the average famous self-described feminist thought men shouldn't be allowed to control their own fertility, wouldn't more than 1 out of 100 female interviewees also say that without any prompting, instead of the above quote? I.e., very few famous feminists want to block the arrival of male contraception, IMHO. (I'm guessing fewer women than that actually say that men shouldn't have the right to male contraception.)
As you mentioned, men aren't exactly helping their own interests right now. Especially when one compares the attention given to this issue and the amount of time, money and energy men's activists have previously spent on unmarried men who want the right not to feed and clothe their unwanted children. As Katha Pollitt pointed out in "The Nation" in Dec. 1998, if we accepted such an argument, every unmarried man could claim his girlfriend tricked him and therefore he shouldn't have to pay child support. (And taxpayers would end up supporting the children instead.)
Here's a good paragraph from her article:
"In the quest to control their fertility, women have demonstrated in the millions, gone to jail, jammed the polls, put up with the side effects and health damage, and even died. They pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket every year for contraception and abortion, and donate millions of dollars and volunteer hours to Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other groups. How many of the men complaining that women have all the reproductive options have written a letter, given a dollar, joined a group, marched or demonstrated to get some for themselves? Every
disease and condition in the country has its advocacy organization; where is the big fertile-male campaign to forward the development of a male pill or a reversible vasectomy? Is male-controlled contraception at the top of the list of demands of any men's rights group?"
Men DO need to take an interest in their own destiny, and not accept their lot as they have done.
It seems that sufficient forced paternity stories have reached enough younger men now to cause a change in behavior.
Questions can be slanted to achieve an outcome. "Would you take a contraceptive pill if one were available?" is not really asking if the FUNCTIONALITY of a contraceptive is desired by men.
Many men may not think of why this were agood thing without a bit of thought, denied by a simple question like the one above.
Let's ask the question to our sample groups again . . .
Raise awareness with this question.
"Do you know of any men who became a father but was not ready?" Some will immediately think of their own fathers.
Then ask.
"Would you take a contraceptive pill to ensure you only became a father when you wanted to be a father?"
I believe the response will be a little more positive than a benign-sounding question.
Once the pill became available men, would start TALKING about how good it was not to worry - as women did - bank on it.
Reason? Men are the ones now 'stuck' with babies not agreed to.
Some go to jail for it.
'Forced dads' are overrepresented in suicide homeless statistics.
Now THERE'S an inconvenient truth to mull over.
I find this article biased and condescending. Not only does the author gratuitously stereotype feminists, he suggests that these same feminists "trick" men to become pregnant. George, please tell me what self respecting feminist told you that a male birth control pill takes away a woman's reproductive right. Im sure for every example you provide, I could find a thousand women denied emergency contraceptives, a thousand women struggling to pay for birth control, and a thousand women forced to rear children with no support (emotional or financial) from the father. When avoiding pregnancy, women bear the most burden and the most consequence. A male pill would be a boon to both sexes. However, the lack of funding is not a result of these so called radical feminists, but of a much more complex mix of old-fashioned sexism and misogyny.
This is the first article I've read that addresses the rampant issue of male stereotyping and reverse sexism. Although I'm a woman, it's pained me for years to hear male-bashing, which usually comes in the form of sexist (or what my husband calls "femoginist" because there is no wordly equivalent to misogynist) supposed "humor"--not unlike the old "blonde" jokes about women. I've wondered for ages when men were going to start speaking out against these wide-spread insults and biases. Good on you, Dvorsky! Hopefully you're helping to pave the way to a future where feminism joins masculism to become equalism and the sexes actually are equal--what a concept!
A friend of mine recently broke up with his girlfriend when he discovered she had taken her desire to have a child to the point of covertly poking holes in their condoms. Her friends see nothing wrong with the girlfriend sabotaging their birth control and have lined up against my friend, calling him childish, selfish and irresponsible.
Imagine how the pill would shift that scenario and you'll see how beneficial it will be, both for men and the half-wanted children who have to live in a home where lying and betrayal are acceptible ways to get what you want. I say bring that pill on!
There's no mysoginy in wanting EQUAL right to control paternity. I personally know several men who did not want children, whose wives 'accidentally' became pregnant and announced it as a fait accompli. They became quite good fathers IMO, but before their time and against their will. Three of them had this 'accident' twice.
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Alex, comparing western women to sadly impoverished people with NO control of ANY aspect of their lives is not a sensible, adult or indeed relevant argument against men having equal control of their own fertility.
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As an example of feminists directing funds to themselves (plenty of influence in the health system), compare breast cancer with colon cancer. Men's death rate is slightly higher (but slower) However, there's grossly unequal focus and research funding (I have seen NO public funding for colon cancer even though it has been known about even longer than breast cancer). That is their divisiveness at work.
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Witness also the removing of good fathers (mostly for no good reason) from children's lives, by giving all financial and emotional power over the children to mums. A good example of trampling on the rights of others to unjustly receive privileges for themselves.
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So, why not ask the question of our sample groups, this time: "Do you know of any men who became a father but was not ready?"
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Some will immediately think of their own fathers.
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Then ask. : "Would you take a contraceptive pill to ensure you only became a father when you wanted to be a father?"
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I believe you'll see a resounding YES.
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As evidence I refer to an article in a local paper that gaily heralded that more than 50% of women now chose not to marry. It is not all their choice! Boys are smarter than we were, and as men they currently develop the widely-criticised "fear of commitment" as a defence mechanism against the forced slavery of unwilling fatherhood. As for most women 'chosing the single life', what of the VERY frequently heard lament "where have all the good men gone"? According to surveys, many, many men are on a forced slavery strike and will never marry becasue they fear the shattering effects of divorce on their children and themselves.
Forced slavery, where an unwilling dad having been used as nothing more than a sperm bank, then transmogrifies into a walking 18 year-duration wallet who is openly vilified in front of his offspring.
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Forced slavery, where a man may not benefit from the just rewards of his own labour.
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To blame 'accidental' pregnancy on men, is puerile in the extreme. First class Orwellian 1984 material in fact!
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This is the world feminism created, men now have to cope with the INequalities generated by the abject self interest displayed my many.
Pash, just so you know, there IS a well-known equivalent word to "misogynist." It's "misandrist."
Mark Deutsch says: "As an example of feminists directing funds to themselves (plenty of influence in the health system), compare breast cancer with colon cancer. Men's death rate is slightly higher (but slower) However, there's grossly unequal focus and research funding (I have seen NO public funding for colon cancer even though it has been known about even longer than breast cancer). That is their divisiveness at work."
Ya know, women didn't used to have ANY influence in how medical research dollars got spent - UNTIL they stood up and demanded a vote in the matter! What exactly is stopping men from doing the same, unless it has to do with the problem of men refusing to see doctors at all? Also, come to think of it, women couldn't even vote for the right to vote, once upon a time, but they didn't let that stop them either.
Yes, Misandry it is and misadnry is alive well.
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As for men having some magical power to 'vote for their own health", great idea in a real democracy, but in the real world as it has now been twisted, impossible.
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Much funding is diverted family assistance purposes and used for gender-discrimninatory purposes, including funding only women's health issues, 'educating' judges and other covert gender-preferential treatment in many areas of life.
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Of course, wherever there is a gender difference, that does not automatically PROVE discrimination.
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Cars were once said to be a "boy's club" because driving was "male dominated" . Sounds good on the surface , but the fact was, you had to be passionate and knowledgeable to trive early cars annd needed to have learned how to repair one. There was NO discrimination then or now.
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The workplace was once quite dangerous, workers were routinely killed on the job and paid work was mostly done by men. Paid work is much easier now (for almost everybody).
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One area where "Male advantage" can be shown is in financial wellbeing. Feminists point out with glee that many of the CEOs and untra rich are men and rabbet on about a "glass ceiling".
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It is fact that the most dangerous jobs tend to pay best, and these are usually performed by . . . tah-dah . . . men! It is asso true that demand for workers exceeds supply. Safe, easy jobs pay less because worker supply exceeds demand.
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Now if it was EQUALITY they really wanted, they would freely and publicly admit the fact that most homeless are also men, and THAT homeless men outnumber rich men by many thousands to one, tipping the balance completely the other way.
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Better not let the truth get in the way of some good old-fashioned man bashing, eh? Esepecially when it would sink an argument that on the surface seems 'correct'. It is also fact that women who are prepared to sacrifice their family lives ARE running big coorporations.
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As for "Ya know, women didn't used to have ANY influence in how medical research dollars got spent - UNTIL they stood up and demanded a vote in the matter!" - In those days there WAS no gender based health research) other than patching up wounded men on the battlefield so they could shoot again. Gender-based medical research had onmly occurred SINCE feminist power was abused.
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Western women are easily the most pampered large human group in history, and with a relatively consequence-free life comes the expectation that the slaves keep quiet. We will not, we have had enough of the travesty that so-called equality has become.
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Imagine the outcry if good mothers were separated from their children for no good reason, and that the perpetrators hid behind what they called "The children's best interests".
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Dads are now standing up to this prolonged gender abuse. Men no longer remain silent, waiting for real equality to arrive. Better get used to it.
Thanks people! “My coffee has gone cold”
I never thought that there would be so many ramifications associated with the male pill. I only clicked on to the recent comments while I was listening to change surfer radio The Coming Convergence, and was blown away by the depth of thought expressed in the comments.
I’m glad you out there thinking about these issues and taking the time to post them and I’d just like to say thank you.
Now I can make another coffee and think about how I can add the issues around the male pill into an essay on. “Capitalist competition and self-interest over co-operation and mutual aid, implications of this when promoting social and economic sustainability.”
Its a good idea! Why wouldn't a woman want more protection? Woman can be sure they won't get pregnant if both partys are taking the pill! The woman has it for her own knowledge, the man has it for his and knowing that he wont have to pay the hoe half his paycheck for 18 years! it sounds great! and I think will help Moms feel safer with their Teenage boys running around. Everyone should be all for it! I don't understand these feminist Nazis who want men to pay their bills!! If the woman has a problem believing the man maybe she shouldnt sleep with him without a condom....
"In those days there WAS no gender based health research....."
I didn't say there was. However, it IS safe to say that a centry ago, the Comstock laws prohibited the distribution of contraceptives, especially for women, so that would be a strong disincentive for medical researchers as well. Women knew they'd have to raise their own funds, protest, AND go to jail to get contraceptives for themselves and other women - and many did just that. Including Margaret Sanger.
Again, what is stopping men from fundraising and voicing their demands for the male BC they allegedly want so much?
Let's see . . .
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Preventing an untested substance that could (and DID) damage women's fertility from being distributed - radical, discriminatory, self-serving! Really?
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"Let's PERMANENTLY damage women so they can't EVER have babies - they will thank us one day, like they did for thalidomide - an effort to make pregnancy more confortable that was DEMANDED BY (not forced on) women before it was tested."
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That mandate may have included a certain amount og the bibllical 'go forth and multiply' as the country nededs population
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The mantra "we need more people" might not sound too bright right now.
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However does it even remotely resemble the discrimination against males that lurks beneath the surface of much public policy, here and in the US fo A? No, it does not.
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In society today there is no longer stuff which happened to disadvantage women, there is cruel and systemic bias that is DESIGNED to harm
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Presumably the peurile justification is to make men 'pay' for what was perpetrated on women (yes there were unpleasant things) - there was also supporting a woman for life, protecting her and housing her and raising a family together
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The destruction of the value of family, replacing it with mother and child, harks back to prehistoric times, times when humans struggled for survival. I'd prefer that my great-children did not have to repeat history, and that is possible.
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Is this the last century of human mastery of the earth?
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I haven't seen anything that does not resemble an the apples vs. oranges comparison in most gender 'comparisons'
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The "men are richer" one is a classic case of Orwell's doublespeak and doublethink.
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A TACT - IE: it is a a lie, ignoring many relevant facts, disseminated as FACT.
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Another TACT is the 'glass ceiling'
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Warren Farrel's "The Myth of male power" and Esther Vilar's "The manipulated man" make for eye-opening reading for anyone actually interested in FACT.
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Warren was the president of National Organisation for Women - presumably until he woke up that feminism IS NOT about equality, it is about absolute power.
I forgot to address a point . . .
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"Again, what is stopping men from fundraising and voicing their demands for the male BC they allegedly want so much?"
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I certainly would prefer NOT to lose my means of supporting my family, however just the cause.
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Have a look at protesters, many do NOT have dependent families.
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It is not any inferiority, we are all to some degree what our situations dictate. That is stronger when there's family to support.
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If Femocrats were the *slightest* bit interested in true equality and "enlightenment" (which they have disingenuously used as a cover in the pursuit of advantage) there'd be no need to protest as real issues would be systematically addressed.
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Instead we see a relentless search to make scapegoats out of the target group, and make a case for discrimination, where there are simply often minor differences.
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50 years in "enlightened times" (not the wild west) with birth control for ONE gender - fair? equal?
Mark Deutsch says: I forgot to address a point . . . -- -- "Again, what is stopping men from fundraising and voicing their demands for the male BC they allegedly want so much?" -- -- I certainly would prefer NOT to lose my means of supporting my family, however just the cause. -- -- Have a look at protesters, many do NOT have dependent families. -- -- It is not any inferiority, we are all to some degree what our situations dictate. That is stronger when there's family to support (end of Mark's excerpt). I don't know why you're convinced YOU would have to be among the ones to make such a sacrifice - or why it would happen to any man in the first place, since the Comstock laws are no longer in effect. If you still feel precautions are necessary, you can write an anonymous letter to your congressman. You could also make anonymous monetary donations to causes you truly believe in. You can pass on online petitions to those who don't mind signing with their real names. You can urge other men to protest publicly if you feel you can't. The list goes on. Besides, in case you haven't heard, there's a huge, conservative-based, anti-contraception movement going on, which means adult WOMEN may soon not have easy access to contraception they WANT to use and that YOU want them to use! You'd better help out soon if you don't want unwanted parenthood hanging over everyone's head. If there's any official, organized group that would like to put condoms back behind the pharmacy counter and stop new methods of BC from becoming available, I think it's safe to say it's the anti-feminist conservatives I hinted at. Let's get moving and stop them.
Oh, and I forgot to add, regarding "Femocrats": If only women ask for better male BC methods, how likely are the U.S. pharmaceutical companies to believe that men are really going to buy and use them? It's all about profit. There's no getting around that. In other words, don't expect a supply without a visible demand from the actual consumers - men. (One other discreet tactic men can use is, they can tell their doctors what they want and ask THEM to start petitions. That way the patients can stay anonymous. But I really doubt more than 5% of male petitioners - if that - are going to suffer serious financial consequences for demanding better male BC - unless they work for an anti-contraception organization in the first place!)
I think male birth control is a serious issue that needs to be addressed asap. Men and Women have waited to long for more than just condoms or the grueling task of female birth control and its controversal side affects. This will be big, and it needs to happen now!
My father could have benefited greatly from a MBCP. I'm here because he was suckered into coming back when he heard the words, 'You can't leave me; I'm pregnant!" My very life is a testimony to the existence of despicable women who use pregnancy to trap a wallet rather than dare to be independent. A MBCP would alleviate a lot of those situations. Why not empower men to actually take control over their own reproductive functions instead of relying on condoms and partners who won't poke holes in them? Feminist women expect no less for ourselves. George, I'm a raging, foaming-at-the-mouth feminist who believes this pill needs to be made available ASAP. There's nothing wrong with equality between the sexes. It's what we've been working for all along..................................................
My ex once told me that many men - including himself - just take it for granted that their female partners will be the ones taking care of contraception. Upon finding out I had gotten an IUD inserted, he was slightly hurt that I hadn't asked him his opinion about it. I told him that, quite frankly, it wasn't his body, career, and possibly life at stake should my Pill fail. Then I asked him why, if he simply assumed I would take care of birth control, did he think he was entitled to an opinion on the methods I chose. He couldn't answer that. (This is symptomatic of why he is now an ex.) Perhaps men haven't made a more vocal demand for their own BCP is because they, like my ex, have fallen into a laziness whereby they assume that since women will be the ones dealing with the burden of an unplanned pregnancy, they assume that women will be the ones most concerned with contraception. Just a theory based on my own personal experience.
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