Male Pill: Freedom for Men

My husband scoffed when he saw the information on the Male Pill. I said, "You mean you wouldn't take it?" He just looked at me: are you kidding me?

Men, bristling under the stereotype that they don't take their sexual responsibility seriously. Men, who decry the forced wage-rape after sperminating a woman and then being caught on the hook for life--donating earnings to the unintended consequence of their feel-good fling. Men, currently putting together their "Men's Movement" to fight for their rights to party and not pay!

Men are welcoming this liberating birth control with vigor and excitement. NOT. Well, a few do.
And here is why some men are for it:

Men will finally have the advantage women have had for the last few decades, as reproductive rights became female-only. A woman could get pregnant, then abort without consulting the father. Or she could have the child and force him to pay child support. A male pill will give men more control in the matter.

Control--BIRTH control. For all those men fearing getting trapped during a cheap lay, ejaculating dry might just be worth it.

My husband blogged on it immediately and said to the question, Will men embrace this?:

No, because men don't want to have to damage their bodies with the side effects that temporary sterility medications create.

Now, I find this answer offensive. I'm not alone. Women must use a known carcinogen, the female version of the Pill to prevent pregnancy. Or, she must use a longer more permanent solution like Depro Prevara which has a huge infertility risk. Or, she must have an invasive surgery like tubal ligation. Or, she must suffer the indignities of lowered sensation with a partner's condom. Or, she must worry about STD's without her partner wearing a condom. Or she must suffer the indignity and blame should birth control fail. Or she must go through the trauma of an abortion. Or she must live with a baby from a man she might not like all that much because she doesn't believe in abortion. And here men could use a pill that wears off in hours, but no!

Here are some male responses (which I think are more representative than Dr. Helen's readers):

Men have more practical concerns. "How would it not affect your sperm count in the next three or four days?" frets Matt. "If you took it for a week or month, how would it keep you from being sterile for a year?"

Were the drug to receive approval, expect monogamous couples like Jane and her husband to be a better demographic than single guys like Matt.

"Name the guy at a bar who, two hours beforehand thinks, 'This is a done deal,' and pops the Pill," he challenges.

Wisecracks Sam, a 24-year-old administrative assistant, in agreement: "When it gets to the point where I know I'm going to have sex two hours before I actually have it, I will be too old to have babies."

For all the reproductive freedom, these biological drives and realities seem to be relegated to the heap of quaint notions.

Many men still view their manhood through the spectrum of virility--that is, the ability to create a child. A Pill that messes with that ability causes them grave personal concern. I can't even count how many women have had tubal ligations because their husbands couldn't imagine experiencing the lightly invasive vasectomy. The psychological angst is comical. And the actual stats prove this out, only a fraction of men get sterilized compared to women. Women must have abdominal surgery to achieve the same goal--but oh well! She must live with the consequences, she can belly up.

Personally, I like the idea of a Male Pill. Men can take control of their baby-making destiny. They won't have to worry about being saddled with an unwanted child. They can also take responsibility for the cause-effect relationship between sex and babies should a "mistake" happen.