Before the bedroom light turns out, a man opens his bedside table and picks up a pack of small pills. He pops a pill into his mouth and crawls into bed next to his significant other. No, the pill he just took was not Viagra. It was a male birth control pill. The idea of male contraception is quickly becoming a reality.
According to an article on msnbc.com, “Men may soon have the options of a daily pill to be taken orally, a patch or gel to be applied to the skin, an injection given every three months or an implant placed under the skin every 12 months, [reported by] Seattle researchers at the Population Center for Research in Reproduction at the University of Washington in Seattle.”
The article goes on to state that Seattle researchers “have found that a male contraceptive that releases testosterone over three months is potentially a safe and practical method of contraception.”
Many of us remember our first sex ed class where we sat giggling at how funny-looking the opposite sex’s genitalia appeared. The one message that was emphasized stated simply, “have safe sex.” Years later, the message remains just as important. These new birth control methods contribute to safer sex and should not be cast aside.
Men, think of this as an opportunity to take over your sex life and have all the masculine control you crave. I am not suggesting that you use this pill so that you can now go have one night stands free of any guilt, but I am saying you should be empowered by the fact that you can control your body.
Some men have expressed fear in using a contraceptive method targeted to them. Yes, the method will be affecting the production in that general area, and the thought of stopping something that is normally flowing can be frightening. However, my question is, what do they think the pill for women has been doing for the past 60 years?
A woman’s egg count is established from the time they are born and only diminishes over time. Men continue to create new sperm through out their lives. Women saving their egg each month would be equivalent to men throwing away unnecessary amounts of sperm.
No doubt, men have the right to be concerned with how the pill will affect them. How does the pill or patch affect the sperm count for the next couple of days? How could an injection affect a man’s sperm count if the hormone is in his system for a long period of time, and he choses to go off it? And without a doubt, how will the contraceptive method affect their sexual pinnacle during intercourse? These are all valid reasons to worry. Yet, it should be taken into consideration that women too have concerns and problems with the contraceptive pill that they take as well.
Women are concerned about hormone changes that only allow them to be on a form of birth control for 10 to 15 years. Any birth control warning label will state risks including vomiting and diarrhea, as well as serious increases to heart attacks and strokes, gallbladder disease and cancer in the reproductive organs and breasts. These too are concerns that women face when choosing to be safe.
To say the least, if men have the opportunity to help prevent something that they wish not to happen, they should take actions as well. Women should not be fully responsible for preventing conception. Using a condom may be an effective way to stay safe, but if you have the opportunity to be safer, why not take it?
Whether you choose to have safe sex with simply a condom or you want to add birth control and/or a male contraceptive methods into the mix is all up to you.
Bottom line: it takes two to tango and men should be held responsible for making sure that they are not impregnating a woman just as much as a woman needs to take responsibility for her own health.
Jenna McDaniel is a junior art education major and a weekly columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.
