This is a big change for society, I think it is worth discussing.
As a person who doesn't drive, I am way against cat calling.
I have seen men treated very unfairly by babies-mommas as well.
I also understand how strength of the chemical desire to have a baby.
How do you think male birth control will change relations between the genders and the world?
The only person I trust not to get me pregnant is me. Funnily enough, I've had a lot of sex with a lot of dudes, a lot more of them didn't want to use a condom (without checking if I was on BC or not) than were worried I would trap them into a pregnancy enough to wrap it up without any initiative on my end. That includes the dudes who already had kids. A man telling me he's on birth control wouldn't make me stop taking mine. (Plus, to be honest, there are additional benefits for me of being a woman on birth control, like the ability to regulate my period, which is a huge boon for me.) It may help men feel more secure about sex but like I said, I've never met a man in meatspace who actually seemed worried enough about accidental pregnancy that I'd honestly trust him to be on top of his BC regimen. So I doubt it would change my in-person interactions much. I have had more men give me STD scares in an attempt to communicate with me again than I have had pregnancy scares.
When I was single I wasn't having enough random sex to even consider taking a birth control pill even if it had been available. I had some girlfriends though and I always trusted them to take their pill. Nobody was trying to trap me in to a relationship. If anything, I was the one trying to convince the ladies to stick around. Gosh, now I kind of feel rejected because no women tried to intentionally get pregnant in order to trap me. What, I'm not good enough ladies?! Geez. Hope you are doing well _ref_. EDIT: For those interested, here is an article from the Daily Beast titled:
To be honest, I got on BC and stayed on it because I knew I'd be having sex but couldn't plan on it. And I figured I would rather be protected for that drunk one night stand if/when it happened than taking Plan B the next morning. For a woman (you probably/maybe know this) you have to take BC for 2 weeks before it is even effective. So I figured, I would take it and keep on taking it, and if/when I had my random hook-ups (or anything longer!), even if we didn't use a condom, the condom broke, I was drunk and couldn't remember if we used protection, etc, I wouldn't have to worry about pregnancy. No man has ever accused me of not taking my BC but I'm also one of the last people I think someone I would date, would expect to TRY and get pregnant. And to be extra-special honest about me taking BC, as a lady, I totally hate that time of the month - you know, when the Communists are in the henhouse and the red tide is rising and the aphids have overtaken the rose and so on. I get bad migraines, I don't consider it a "mystical time to be in touch with my feminine body," I've ruined a lot of underwear and yes, even as a full-grown adult, pairs of pants. I really want to get my period as little as possible. So I'm on that BC that makes it so I only bleed once every three months, and for that reason alone, I would never ever stop taking it haha. Even if I didn't have that option and was on the BC that makes you get it monthly, I would still do it because my cycle was never very regular and I never was very good at keeping track of it. I know everyone rolls their eyes at the "But women don't use birth control just to get pregnant!" however - my personal experience absolutely validates that. I told someone recently if I could just have all the organs that give me my period cut out of my body I would do it because I hate my period that much. (They then pointed out that I would go into menopause. At 25. Which would totally suck.) I am doing well, popping in on Hubski here and there. Little overwhelmed with all the activity. Work might be looking up but we will see. It turns out that the only person who really thinks I am shitty at my job is me. I have started adopting positive thoughts to help me with the mornings. (They really do help. And to-do lists.) I will let you know if I head down to the VA area for work again, it would be nice to force a meet-up. They usually let me rent a car. I think we could fix something. I hope all is super-duper with you, I will be checking up on your pubskis. :)
Your turn Also, I'd love to meet up! Bring wasoxygen, Meriadoc and arguewithatree
Chelsea and I were just talking about this. We're trying to go camping anywhere we can this summer, and NC is a top choice. We popped by Delaware last weekend on our trip to NJ, so getting ref isn't too difficult. The question is if YOU can take a whole weekend off :)
Ha. I don't think that I could take a whole weekend off without having a four year old and a one year old at my side. Enjoy NC though. Where are you thinking?
I was wondering, have you ever had that kind of experience with a girl where she claimed she was pregnant or appeared to be lying to get pregnant or so on? I know it's a fear that a certain proportion of men have. I haven't experienced it but then again when I date women I don't have to worry if they will get pregnant. While I am sure that it's a thing that happens, I am not sure it is so common that one must be a good judge of character to get through life without experiencing it. I am just loath to believe it is a danger one must side-step at every turn when dating women. Certainly having that attitude would make relationships harder I think.
I also refuse to get romantically involved before I judge someones character. I found my boyfriend online and screened him pretty carefully. I said I would only date guys with a job, house, and masters degree. I worked backwards from there, seeing if we got along as people. Dated too many musicians, to believe in fairy tales. My credit was fucked by guys using me, so I won't date people anymore who don't wipe their own ass. This attitude works for me and makes my relationship easier, instead of harder. I don't know if I would have gotten to this point as a guy. They have too much instinct to be irresponsible with getting girls pregnant. For a guy to be like that, he would have to be very driven, or seen some awful situations.
I think that there should be no such thing as an unplanned pregnancy anymore. I think that all children that are born, should be concieved out of loving intention. Male birth control is a step towards that, and I think it will become as common as female birth control because of how badly modern courts treat men.
I have lived in progressive areas where mixed families work well. Right now I am stuck in my home town, where exes and step parents, are at constant war. These people sometimes have three children by 25. I also know people who are single parents or have children in state custody. I can see this having a big impact here. These people are so ignorant and miserable. I used to be poly, so I really don't get the insanity, of going to jail for vandalizing your cheating boyfriend's car. I don't want to have my own kids, but I've tried to be a step parent. Guys who try to be parents are really screwed, if they pick a crazy one. The guys who don't care, eventually get wages garnished. I see this technology leading to many less unwanted children. Wanted children are less likely to be abused and more likely to be taught well. I can see this advancing humans a great deal. I am bad with taking medication. I've never been on birth control. My period isn't much trouble for me, through. I've always just used fertility awareness or condoms. Takes some skill to do.
One thing I would like to see is the normalization of sex in our culture. It certainly won't be instantaneous but if it becomes available in much the same way that female BC is, hopefully things won't be so damn taboo.