Why Should Women Have To Go On The Pill?

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‘Going on the pill’ is something a lot of twenty somethings will remember from a time in their mid to late teen years. Full of anticipation, an intense sexual lust only found in virgins and a bag full of nerves, you find yourself sitting in a clinical room, with a total stranger, discussing your contraception options.

Almost all of these clinics will send a teenage girl away with the pill and a bag of condoms with very little persuasion and not a whole lot of explanation. They do not spend time building a full medical background on their patient and they never let her leave without something that will physically, mentally and emotionally change her. Even worse than that is the fact that she will probably be incredibly ill-advised on potential side effects.

I’ve been told by a doctor friend of mine that the reason doctors do not advise women of most of the side effects associated with their prescribed contraception is due to the placebo effect that can take place. You know, someone tells you X may happen and therefore you are convinced X has happened because you are heightened to things you wouldn’t normally be.

Don’t get me wrong, I can see their point, it’s just inconsequential to, well, the cold hard facts.

Late last year, I was not advised of the fact that the brand of ‘contraceptive ring’ I was prescribed could cause suicidal thoughts and some of the most ridiculous mood swings known to man. As a result of this, when I became suicidal for a (thankfully) brief period of three days, I literally broke down and stopped functioning in a way that affected me for at least two months after I had the dreaded thing removed.

Had somebody advised me that suicidal thoughts, mood swings and severe depression were side effects, no – common side effects, then maybe I wouldn’t have fucked up several job opportunities, relationships and periods of my life I will never get back.

Did I mention this happened over Christmas? Yeah, merry fucking Christmas.

I have had several awful experiences with various methods of contraception, something I have put down to my own unfortunate circumstances. Some women agree with one type of contraception and stick with it for life, others spend 10+ years trying to find ‘the right fit’ for them, only to have bad experience after bad experience. These women should not continue to suffer in silence.

Why are we, as women, the ones who are expected to handle the baby prevention methods? Men are not left mentally, physically or emotionally scarred from having to wrap it up.

Why is a man’s desire to cum inside a woman so strong, so much more important than a woman’s general wellbeing, that we are expected to ‘deal with it’? You never hear about men complaining they have to use condoms so that their partner can function like a normal woman should. Instead you hear about women who put up with mental and physical changes, that can quite literally change who they are, for her partner to be able to cum inside of her.

I don’t know about you, but for me this is absolutely absurd and needs to change.

With all this talk on feminism and equality recently, why are we, as women, still the ones having to suffer all so a man can cum inside of us, but not get us pregnant? Does anybody else see what’s wrong with this picture?