OUTLINE
Audience: Young men and women, policy makers and influencers, parents (to prepare their children for the possible social expectations they may face)
TITLE: Contraceptives – Strictly a Female’s Responsibility?
Intro: In the U.S., roughly 10.6 million women take hormonal birth control pills every day. On the other hand, men don’t take anything to prevent possible pregnancies and leave it up to the female to handle it. A man can impregnate over 360 women in a singular year meanwhile women can bear a one child per year. The issue with this is that females are facing the strain of birth control when men are the ones that have more potential in impregnating someone. Contraceptives have become the new fad within our society but the burden is being placed on the female leaving the man unaffected and lacking responsibility in a relationship.
Working thesis: By only offering female hormonal contraceptives, we are perpetuating gender expectancies and placing physical, emotional and financial strain on women.
Background info – establish credibility
- One man can impregnate over 360 women in a year while women can bear one child per year
- Mens BC – injection to lower sperm count that proved to be 96% effective
Types of women BC- Men admitting they have equal responsibility in prevention but don’t share the consequences
- The strain of birth control has been predominantly a woman’s responsibility because if birth control fails, it is their bodies that are facing the consequences
- Men’s only source of BC is a condom and if that still fails (which it is the least effective method) – so men either wrap it up or can let the woman handle the possible outcomes
- https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/the-different-stakes-of-male-and-female-birth-control/506120/
- The strain of birth control has been predominantly a woman’s responsibility because if birth control fails, it is their bodies that are facing the consequences
Hint at the problem
- Value into question
- Shouldn’t there be a shift in focus onto male contraceptives instead of predominantly females
- From the chart, you can see woman mostly rely on the pill, then sterilization then the condom
- “A clinical trial of contraceptives for men was halted because of side effects—side effects that women have dealt with for decades.”
- Mens side effects: mood swings, depression
- Women side effects
- Pill – Headaches, nausea, menstrual cramps, yeast infections, breast tenderness, acne, mood swings, and weight gain.
- IUD – pelvic or abdominal pain, ovarian cysts, headaches and migraines, acne, depressed mood, “heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding.”
- Nuvaring – Vaginal-tissue irritation, headaches, mood changes, nausea and vomiting, weight gain, breast pain, painful menstruation, abdominal pain, acne, and decreased libido.
- Women’s contraceptives are all FDA approved when they have similar if not worse side effects than the male version
- https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/the-different-stakes-of-male-and-female-birth-control/506120/
- Lots of men dont even know the protection that their partner is even taking
- Assuming a girl is on it can create serious consequences
Preview of context
- Thesis
- Have made male contraceptives – studies
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2854868/
- In committed relationships, young men admitted that often times they rely on their partners to use birth control to prevent pregnancy, which can bring up feelings of anxiety and mistrust about pregnancy intentions.
Examples (2-3)
- In the U.S., roughly 10.6 million women take hormonal birth control pills every day – https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-arent-laughing-at-that-male-birth-control-story_us_5818f13fe4b0922c570bd335
THE STUDY – https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/03/500549503/male-birth-control-study-killed-after-men-complain-about-side-effects- Genghis Khan – fathered over 1,000 kids and had over 3,000 wives
A growing problem – urgency – establish evidence
- With premarital sexual relations gaining and extreme amount of popularity, those same people are also experiencing many consequences
- Some girls can’t use birth control due to health problems/conditions – what then?
- Crohn’s disease and IBD can limit the success/absorption of BC
- Medications – prozac and zoloft (antidepressants)
- Condoms are the most important contraceptive methods in teens
- Don’t have a great reputation to always prevent pregnancies
Results of the problem
- Gender expectancies
- Single mothers – men don’t have as much as a connection to the kid so they feel like leaving is justified meanwhile the woman just carried that kid in her and has a maternal instinct to love and care for the kid
Possible solutions – how to examples
- Even though the study fell through, they could still put the contraceptive on the market
- 80% of men that did the study said they would buy and use this if it was on the market regardless of the side effects
Conclusion
- Lack of government funding and motivation towards this issue
- Mostly due to social stigmas that surround relationships
- Address value in question again
- List the possible solutions
- List the possible solutions
