Advances In Male Contraception

By Alexis DeVries

Women did not always have safe forms of contraception, and many died because of it. Even today, access to safe and affordable contraception is not universal, and some groups even advocate banning it. Most of society considers it the women’s responsibility to use contraception, but attitudes are slowly changing. Forms of male birth control have been preliminarily tested and succeeded, which means that someday men may also feel empowered to use hormonal contraception. However, according to Time magazine, even the most advanced trials are still a decade away from becoming reality.

Attitudes toward male birth control are mixed. While women are used to hormonal contraception and have fairly positive views toward it, this is uncharted territory for men. Time mentioned that a drug trial was stopped due to side effects that are similar to the side effects of female birth control. This shows that somehow expectations for male birth control are higher than those for female birth control despite being in use for decades now. Men have not experienced this before, so they are unwilling to tolerate it when actually in use. Physician's Weekly wrote an article discussing studies on attitudes toward male contraception. The author wrote, “Although both sexes had a favorable attitude toward the male pill, females had a more positive attitude than men. Conversely, women had less trust that men would use the male pill effectively. Males in stable sexual relationships were more positive about the male pill than those in casual sexual relationships.” This implies that men are more favorable about taking contraception if they care about the partner they are with. Building off of that, they still believe that it is the women’s responsibility to use contraception when they do not have to face the day-to-day consequences of it. Both this and women’s distrust in their effective use are evidence of a lacking sexual education system. If sex education was given more thoroughly and widely, men would feel less trepidation about taking birth control, and women would trust men more in their knowledge of it.

While it is both parties' responsibility to take part in contraception measures, society still views it as weighing more heavily on females due to the lack of research and education. Because of this, attitudes are very mixed amongst the male population and vary depending on the situation. This leads to women being more trustworthy due to their higher extent of exposure and knowledge of contraception. Side effects will always be a concern for both parties. However, all eyes are on male contraception right now because it is brand new and in the spotlight. Overall, there needs to be more funding put toward sexual health and education measures to allow for greater gender equality.

References:

https://www.physiciansweekly.com/attitudes-towards-the-male-contraceptive-pillhttps://time.com/5556193/male-birth-control-pill/