Well, it’s not quite to the point of "spaying" men, of course (since men don’t have ovaries to be removed), but apparently medical science is prepared to introduce a whole new line of male contraceptives, including pills, patches, and gels. But there are a couple of creases in Contraceptive Wonderland that have yet to be ironed out. Some men are cool with the idea of having "choice" but don’t like the idea of medicating themselves:
"Forty-year-old Scott Hardin says he’s glad that men may soon have a new choice when it comes to birth control. But, he adds, he would not even consider taking a male hormonal contraceptive. Hardin is like many men who are pleased to hear they may have a new option but are wary of taking any type of hormones.
"’I would rather rely on a solution that doesn’t involving medicating myself and the problems women have had with hormone therapy doesn’t make me anxious to want to sign on to taking a hormone-type therapy,’ says Hardin, who is single and a college administrator."
Other men are thrilled at the idea of "protecting" themselves. The only problem is that they are eager to "protect" themselves from the real or imagined evil designs of the women they mistrust but have no problem sleeping with:
"[Quentin] Brown has been taking hormonal contraceptives for more than a year. He reports no problems with weight gain or acne, two side effects that occurred in earlier versions of MHCs [male hormonal contraceptives] tested in the 1990s.
"Brown, who is married and has three children, hopes his kids will one day be able to benefit from the new technology. His would like his son, who is now 17, to one day have the option of taking a male birth control pill. Brown believes many men will see ‘their pill’ as a good idea and will want to use it.
"’It is time for men to have some control. I think it would empower men and deter some women out there from their nefarious plans,’ says Brown. ‘Some women are out there to use men to get pregnant. This could deter women from doing this. An athlete or a singer is someone who could be a target and they could put a stop to that.’"
So, once again, contraceptive technology breeds disrespect for and abuse of women. Whether it is the sense that it is a woman’s "job" to "fumigate" herself, something a man rightly figures he doesn’t want to do to himself but has no apparent problem with subjecting a woman to, or whether it is a fear that women are conniving gold-diggers whom a man may use for sex but avoid further responsibility to, Pope Paul VI’s warning in Humanae Vitae that contraception can only have dire consequences for the relationships between men and women is once more proven right.
How about this wonderful new development in the lives of women . . .
Seasonale® is a prescription method of birth control that is taken orally each day to prevent pregnancy. Seasonale® produces only, FOUR MENSTRUAL PERIODS PER YEAR, compared to the monthly menstrual period of the traditional birth control pill.
How could this NOT be detrimental to a woman’s health? Lord help us.
I agree 100% with the Catholic teaching on this. But that aside, listen to the “nefarious plans” argument closely because it can be abused within the confines of two married Catholics practicing NFP.
Not to justify male contraceptives, but we do have a problem with women tricking their husbands. They lie and say they’re not fertile when they are. We call it “oopsing”. “Ooops, I didn’t know I was fertile!” (blatant lie)
So there is at least one situation where women can have nefarious plans within marriage. Such a circumstance shows that more communication is needed to get to the root of whether they both would deliberately have a child, rather than resorting to lies where there is disagreement.
Sure, we’re open to conception when we practice NFP, but a deliberate lie takes away from the unitive aspect. We don’t borrow $1000 from our friend “for an emergency” and then turn around and donate that money, for the friend, to the poor. We don’t trick people into “being good”, by our own standards.
Women “oops” all of the time; it’s disgusting but the guy in this article does have a point. And no, it doesn’t support contraception–I’m just pointing out what happens.
While I would firmly believe that some women lie in the same way that I believe some men lie, in most stable marriages this should be rare. I’m also inclined to believe that this is usually the fault of the man. Frankly, the lie should be pretty evident if he’s semi-sentient. He should also exhibit strong enough self-sacrificing leadership that these lies are viewed as unnecessary.
Unfortunately, most men are being moved towards ignorant and shiftless. We go to college less. Work less. Defend less. Lead less. There are a host of angry couch potatoes and arm-chair-generals out there that in rare instances are breeding more of the same. You don’t want to try nations worth of full size male children. They throw serious tantrums.
The reason they push condoms in Africa is because it helps stop the spread of AIDS (though condoms don’t really prevent AIDS, but they tell our kids that anyways.)
I wonder if men stopped using them in America and the EU, what would happen? We’re pushing sex in our society quite a bit now a days, and there are a lot more STD’s out there than simply AIDS.
Just another walk on the wide road to the wide gate that Jesus warned us all about.
“Fumigate”… Great material to use! My dad was in the pest control business, so I thought that I knew all the ins and outs, but no.
NFP is not a practice that married Catholics should use…… unless there is a GRAVE reason.
Sadly today, many think this is normal and good
birth control. Well, it is birth control, but it was always taught by the catholic church it is to be the exception, never the rule.
Here is the offical Catholic stance.
This is not a disciplinary matter, but rather one of doctrine.
This carries a imprimatur from the ARCHBISHOP of CHICAGO.
Q: Is the practice of confining the use of the marriage to the sterile period approved by the Church?
A: It is NOT correct to say that the Church approves of it, or counsels it or encourages it, for she is no counsellor of sterility. But it is correct to say that She declares it lawful when there are Grave Reasons for such limitation of childbirth.
Note : the desire for excessive amusements, pleasures and mechanical comforts as well as the ambition to Keep up with the Jones, are not legitimate reasons for excusing oneself from marital duties.
African Aids, a new disease, will not be curbed by condom use.
clean water, farming assistance, inexpensive medicines, and improved sewr systems in Africa will cut in half the so called AIDS deaths, which are really just folks dying from unsanitary living conditions.