But you’re on birth control, right?

Ah, birth control. While this is a topic that females can talk about all day, a lot of males tend to avoid this subject. Although this is not the case with all males, it is no secret that a lot of them feel uncomfortable talking about women’s health. That is, unless it is beneficial toward them. You might be wondering what I mean by that.

Let’s say that a woman is getting intimate with a man and she asks him to use a condom. For some reason, a lot of men get offended by this request. It is hard to understand why some of them seem to take it so personally when it is a very reasonable thing to ask. In one way or another, there are many women who have had an experience with a male related to this.

“Do you not trust me?”

“Aren’t you on birth control? What is the big deal?”

“I don’t have a condom on me, but can we do it anyway?”

Now, the point of this blog post is not for me to shit on all men and claim that they are all naïve. There definitely are men who are educated on women’s health and do not mind having a conversation about it. However, I believe there is a huge lack of awareness about women’s health, specifically regarding birth control, which raises a lot of issues. Men may not even realize the times where they are being disrespectful, when they absolutely are.

There are many reasons that women choose to go on birth control: to prevent pregnancy, to regulate menstrual cycles, to help clear up acne, etc. While there are many benefits for birth control, there are still many reasons why women choose NOT to go on the pill. Side effects of birth control pills include mood changes, weight gain, nausea, etc. Not only does birth control have the ability to impact women physically, but it can also take a serious toll on women mentally. I have had women tell me that being on birth control has decreased their quality of life. Some of my friends have revealed that they cannot even remember what they were like before being on the pill, for the pill has the power to have an impact on one’s personality. Obviously women do not all have the same reactions to the pill, due to different types of pills and bodies. While some females are lucky enough to find a pill that works for them right away, it can take years for other females to find one. This is why it is NOT safe to assume that EVERY female is on birth control.

So let’s circle back to the scenario where a guy questions a woman as to why she is asking him to use a condom. What tends to be forgotten is that just because a woman is on birth control, does not mean that they are completely safe from unwanted pregnancy. Not only that, but birth control does not help prevent the risk of STDS. Condoms do. It is completely unfair and immature for a man to question a woman on her wishes for a condom to be used. Regardless of whether or not a female is on birth control, she still has the right to want to practice safe sex.

 “But aren’t you on birth control?”

Yeah, and your point?