When I heard the news that trials of hormonal birth control for men had been halted because the men in question could not cope with such side effects as “acne and mood swings”, I happened to be flat on the floor with pain. Specifically, I was halfway through the regular 24-hour hell period that has been my monthly reality ever since I changed my contraception. It’s a hardcore enough experience that if men had to go through this on a regular basis, they’d be boasting about it. I did the research for this article while trying not to vomit through the sensation of my insides being slowly gouged out with cold metal hooks of biological inequity. I’m sorry if that’s uncomfortable to read. It’s even more uncomfortable to have happen to you, and hundreds of millions of women and girls go through something like it every month and more, and that’s the point. We cannot talk about reproductive science without getting into the messy, painful stuff that a lot of people would rather women dealt with in private.
Given that my uterus appeared to be losing a bar-brawl with my kidneys, I was in no mood to feel anything but womb-aching contempt for anyone prissy and precious enough to flake out of a birth control trial because they weren’t man enough to deal with a bit of grumpiness and the odd spot. The new male contraceptive injection — considered more marketable than a daily pill, because nobody, apparently, is about to trust a bloke to remember his meds — has been halted because of “side effects”. Among the side effects in question were acne, mood swings and libido changes — other rarer ones included testicular pain, night sweats, and confusion. These are some of the same side effects, that women who take hormonal contraception have been dealing with for decades, alongside blood clots, major depression, weight gain and, very occasionally, death. These risks have always been considered an acceptable tradeoff for women — but men apparently demand a higher quality of life.
Content from our partners
