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Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?

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PhillyLass
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
I don't mean to diminish the liberating impact the pill has had on womanity. No question about it, it's given peace of mind and greater reproductive choice to women. But articles extolling the virtues of the pill make it sound like it's the first and only contraceptive ever invented. Women have been finding ways to prevent pregnancy and induce miscarriage for, well, ever. The disproportionate attention paid to the pill has a great deal to do with context-- it became available around the time of the women's liberation movement, so (many) women felt (more) free to discuss fertility control openly. Agency should be vested in women-- the users of the pill-- and not in the pharmaceutical companies marketing the stuff.
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dailytannenbaum
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Even though I lost my health insurance and I have no prospects of getting some in the near future, I will continue to shell out for the pill, just so I know that my period is coming on a Tuesday. The ability to decide never to flow on the weekend has made my life at least 10% happier.

Oh, and not getting pregnant, that was good, too.
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SarahMC
12/16/08

@dailytannenbaum: Did you get your period today too? I love deciding exactly when mine will arrive, too!
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Aesop's Foibles. YES.
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Hm. In reading all the comments, it's apparent that there's really no correct or common answer to the haapiness question. For some of us, being able to control our bodies provides definite peace of mind and less stress over the very real and very possible consequences of having sex. For others, hormonal birth control has provided a welcome relief of horrible monthly problems. Both of these could be equated with happiness, I guess. Personally I see it as more of a better quality of life sort of thing. While I do think it's unnatural to introduce synthetic hormones into my body, I still take my pill faithfully every night. For those of you who have had bad experiences with certain kinds of bc, as I have in the past, my advice is to talk with your gyno about what your particular effects were, and go ahead and try different kinds/brands/doses until you find one that fits. This took a while for me, but I have an awesome lady-doctor, and she was more than happy to advise me and offer a great deal of choices to consider. Also, I think we all know that certain medications can adversely affect our bodies, and this is obviously something to watch for. Oh and for those of you who are currently less than pleased with their current form of bc and are down with and able to take the pill, let me introduce you to my personal savior. It's generic name is Seasonique. It's the knockoff version of Seasonale but whatever: 4 (FOUR) periods a year. Each lasting about 3 days. No cramps/sore titties/breakouts. I love it. My menses (hee) used to hang around for 7 days and featured all of the accompanying misery. My lovely lady-doctor finally introduced me to this little wonder after I started taking neuro meds and began getting my period every five minutes. It has worked beautifully. I have no complaints whatsoever. Yay! Synthetic hormones/no babies FTmuthafuckinW!!
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Cuntlovin
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Ladies Please Help!!!!!!! I want to try going off the pill, having been on it since I was 13 for acne and currently today for well sex...It doesn't seem like 9 years of hormones could possibly be good for me.

My boyfriend has been encouraging me to go off too. He doesn't like the idea that I should be putting chemicals into my body so that we can get it on.

So whats the problem you say? I hate condoms, hate, hate, hate them. I don't know if I have a super sensitive vag or something but I can feel them on my partner and that sensation is worse than nails on the board. That and my partner never climaxs wearing them. He is okay with this, I quote " Hey if I have to touch myself a little more often so that we can use condoms and you can get off BC, thats not exactly a tragedy."...But I don't want to have if I am the only one coming...

I don't know what to do...
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fashionablyevil
12/16/08

@Cuntlovin: IUD
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Cuntlovin
12/16/08

@fashionablyevil:

This is my question. Where can I get good reliable information about the IUD? I mentioned it once to my father (doctor, although not my doctor) and he said hell no, but I feel like given Gynocology is not his field his information may be outdate.

I have asked my own doctor however given that I am at a University health clinic she is less interested in discussing various birth control methods and more interested in prescribing the pill and moving onto the next student...I feel I need good evidence going into a discussion with her to prove I could use IUD.
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rollergirl76
12/16/08

@Cuntlovin: [ladycomp-babycomp.com]
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Brigit
12/16/08

@Cuntlovin: The only reason I didn't get an IUD and got a hormonal implant was because my doc said that insertion is very painful if you haven't had a kid because your uterus has never been super-stretched. Also it increases the probability of the iud going out of place and thus you getting pregnant.

I have a very low pain threshold so that's a super-no on my part, but it might be a good solution for you.

My doc is one of the uni's docs. They usually have short and long appointment schedules, so I drilled her when I was in one of the long appointment slots.
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eowyn for the win
12/16/08

@Cuntlovin: Hey, I have a similar problem :( My doctor says I shouldn't take any type of hormonal birth control because of my migraines, but my boy literally cannot use condoms. We've tried several times, but as soon as the latex touches him, he goes soft, and it's very frustrating for both of us so we've stopped using them. I don't what to do, it seems like all birth control breaks down into hormones or condoms. Plus I'm worried about IUDs giving me horrible periods since my normal cramps are enough to make me skip class and lie in bed with a heating pad.
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Brigit
12/16/08

@truthnbeautybombs: Oh dude that sucks so bad. Have you considered diaphragms? I wouldn't say it's user-friendly, but it does the job without hormones...
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Oh, but also... yeah, it has allowed some idjuts to lull themselves into a false sense of security when it comes to STDS, and just because women no longer had to worry about getting pregnant (well... didn't have to worry as much, though there was some fear of dying at first) doesn't mean all men were suddenly concerned with getting their partners off.
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SeverinoHaobo
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
That guy's article is shit. BUT, I don't think we should feel forced into celebrating or hating on the pill. (And we shouldn't let guys like the one who wrote that article control the discourse.) Orthocyclen rocked my world for like 7 years, then I got switched to a generic and had anxiety and depression and no libido and digestive problems for like 2 years. It was all really gradual, and I had no idea any of these were related until I was reading Jezebel and connected the no libido to the pill. Switched to brand name and all the other problems went away too. (Thank you Tracie!) When I figured all this out I was infuriated that I'd mentioned all these problems to doctors numerous times and no one had ever connected them or mentioned the pill as a possible cause. So--I feel like there should be way more discussion of the pill's side effects, way more acknowledgment of the side effects from the medical industry, and more birth control options presented to women. Also, probably there should be more research to make the pill better for more people. And the pill shouldn't be something that teenage girls are put on automatically. & if abortions weren't so stigmatized, maybe more people would have healthy sex lives, use condoms, and know that they could get an affordable, non-stigmatized abortion if they needed one. (Rather than having people whose bodies don't like the pill feel compelled to be on some sort of hormonal BC.)

So yeah, the pill was revolutionary and totally needs to be celebrated. But let's keep the conversation going and put pressure on the medical industry to make things better for women. The feminist fight for safe and effective and healthy (non-libido-smashing) birth control for everyone is not over yet!
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
12/16/08

@SeverinoHaobo: 'So--I feel like there should be way more discussion of the pill's side effects, way more acknowledgment of the side effects from the medical industry, and more birth control options presented to women.'

Agree with all of this. Especially this idea that subsidized BC is no big deal because women can just change types or go on generic if they don't feel like paying $50/month. Or that 'depression' is listed under the non-serious side effects of all BC info pamphlets I've seen.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Readily available BC and sex education is without a doubt one of the single most important factors contributing to the liberation and happiness of women. Deciding if and when to have a child (and yes, that includes access to abortion) can mean the difference between life and death, if not life and servitude.

That being said... sure would be nice if they'd do a little more testing on the BC already available (scary how little doctors, especially male ones, know about the side effects) and keep on trucking with that male Pill.
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aubonpam
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
If 40% of women were pregnant by their wedding day in 1875 (!!) I'm gonna hazard a guess and say at least some of those women enjoyed sex. It's a fucking biological urge.
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The Queen of No
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
Increased! Clearer skin, lighter periods, bigger boobs AND peace of mind!
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rollergirl76
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
I plan on going back on the Pill next year. Now, that I'm single and dateless, there's really no point to be on it. Here's hoping for lots of dirty, sweaty sex in 2009 *blows noisemaker*
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la.donna.pietra
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
So Seasonale is going to be called Anya in Europe?

Nuh-uh. I'm not taking anything that might make me into a vengeance demon.
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royaume de coeur
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
The pill has caused me to forget what periods are like, since I have them so infrequently and they are so short. It is my greatest dream, actualized. I couldn't have done it without you, Zovia.
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Brigit
12/16/08

@royaume de coeur: I have Implanon and up to now no periods and I cannot describe how happy this has made me!
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limedcoconut
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
This is an interesting question, not from the point of view of the author, but I have mixed feelings about BC.

I like it because i have lots of regular sex with one person, and I don't want to be pregnant, and with the bc its not a worry.

But on the pill i cry over everything and have very hightened anxiety, to the point where its just not fun anymore. The anxiety is only matched when off the pill when my period gets irregular (its a family trait) and I start to get worried.

So, birth control for womens, as a group, its awesome, but for some individuals, its a quality of life reducer
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stacyinbean
12/16/08

@limedcoconut: Have you tried many different types? It's a huge pain in the ass (and may or may not make your doctor hate you) but I went through 5 different pills last year until I finally found one that didn't severely increase my anxiety and cryingness. It's been fucking fantastic since I found it!
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Flackette Goes Retro
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
The pill also let my parents plan their family so that they didn't have children when they were young and broke. That means my brother and I benefited in all kinds of ways from increased socioeconomic status to more affordable college educations. Yay for our moms, who were the first generation to take the pill!
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dancingteacups
12/16/08

In reply to Has The Pill "Increased Or Diminished Human Happiness"?
The Pill made my life more miserable, but it increases options and reduces pain for a lot of women, and that should be celebrated. I'm just not sure how I feel about it being available over the counter, because those side effects can really fuck you up. Such as making you depressed for two years...
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