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Every woman I've ever been with has already been on BC, this is the same for all my guy friends. It's never something I've ever had to consider. I think the ar

Every woman I've ever been with has already been on BC, this is the same for all my guy friends. It's never something I've ever had to consider. I think the article doesn't bother separating real motivations from stated motivations. People want to have sex without consequences. That happens either in committed relationships or hookups. This gel does nothing for people who just want to hookup because of the risk of STDs. So you still have to use a condom anyway so why get the gel injection? In committed relationships I could see it working. But committed relationships don't just spring up from nowhere. People who become committed probably started out doing this thing called dating where they tried to meet and sleep with people before settling down. So women will use BC in both phases because it's the path of least resistance. I could see this working best as an alternative to vasectomy for a couple that is done having kids. But not as a replacement for condoms or female hormonal BC.

chrischen 9y ago
BC has side-effects, so currently the burden is placed on women. It's the path of least resistance simply because it is the status quo, but that's no argument for why it should continue that way.
- ams6110 9y ago
  Look, let's be honest. It falls to women because they have the most to lose. They are the ones who get pregnant. Of course men should be responsible. But the biological reality is what it is.
  - Sharlin 9y ago
    Let’s be honest. It’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t fall to women at least partially because this has historically been a men’s world and men cannot be bothered with researching male contraceptives if contraception has already been made Someone Else’s Problem. A male contraceptive with all the side effects of the pill would never become popular.
    - dictum 9y ago
      The reasons commonly reported by heterosexual men to not use condoms are not much different to the reasons reported by homosexual men, so I think there's something other than burden-passing at play here.
      - Sharlin 9y ago
        Hm, I don’t see how that follows at all. Gays don’t have the pregnancy issue so there’s no burden to pass.
- falcolas 9y ago
  The burden is largely on women because they suffer the larger (and more immediate) share of the consequences. How many women who don't want those consequences would trust a casual hookup who assured them that they are sterile, to the point where they'll not use their own birth control? Ideally, both parties will use birth control.
  - lsaferite 9y ago
    >Ideally, both parties will use birth control. This is what many people see to be missing. No method of BC, beyond total abstinence, is 100% effective. Mixing methods lowers the simultaneous failure rates to minuscule levels.
- jjaredsimpson 9y ago
  I didn't make an argument saying that the way it is, is the way it should be. I just said it is the way it is for reasonable reasons and I don't see how this new way could gain traction. Pushing up hill isn't a great strategy.
croon 9y ago
> So women will use BC in both phases because it's the path of least resistance. I could see it from womens point of view as you can't always trust the other party (someone you just met) that they are indeed "on the gel", and you are the one getting pregnant if it's not the case. This might be the big/determinant factor, but apart from that it's definitely not "least resistance" when factoring in side effects. It's tradition, but it doesn't have to be. Condoms for STDs will always have a place, I agree.
spacehome 9y ago
There are many women who are reluctant to take hormonal birth control pills for a variety of reasons. It makes some gain weight or breast size. It makes some more emotional. It can increase risk for certain cancers. Among smokers it increases risk of blood clots and strokes. Some women believe (correctly or not) that taking the pill will affect fertility later in life. Mucking with one's endocrinology is serious business, and it's a serious choice for every woman thinking about getting on the pill. If there's this "perfect" side-effect free birth control for men, I know a lot of women who'd rather opt for that. On the other side of it, condoms (and hormonal birth control pill for that matter) are not infallible. Plenty of guys want to have consequence-free sex with relative strangers and not have to worry about a condom breaking or b.c. pills being left in the hot sun too long or an unscrupulous woman turkey-bastering his sperm from a used condom or a blowjob. I anticipate this being immensely popular if it's made available.
- lsaferite 9y ago
  You missed a big reason for women not to take hormonal BC. Reduced or absent sex-drive. That's a large issue for a woman in a relationship and probably a large issue for single women as well.
  - spacehome 9y ago
    I didn't bring it up because it's not a reason to prefer vasalgel over hormonal BC.
    - lsaferite 9y ago
      > There are many women who are reluctant to take hormonal birth control pills for a variety of reasons. Your list had nothing to do with preferring male over female BC. It was talking about reasons women could be reluctant to use hormonal BC methods. I was simply adding a very large side-effect to the list of reasons a woman might skip a hormonal BC method.
      - spacehome 9y ago
louhike 9y ago
Female hormonal BC can have a lot of bad consequences on the health (I know someone who died, one other who lost a lost of her hair, my girlfriend gets depressed, etc.) so I hope more couples would consider that.
- abledon 9y ago
  Its interesting to think how hormonal BC has only been around for less than a century. What effects will the mothers (& grandmothers, since technically the mother's egg is already formed in the grandmother at birth) carry onto their children over further generations? I like to think we got a nice ancestry line happening from the last 2000 years with lots of physical activity and exposure to nature.
xkcd-sucks 9y ago
In contrast, every woman I've been with, with one exception, has been unable to take hormonal birth control without crippling side effects re: mood and mental health. I can't comment on what it feels like, but the side effects are emotionally taxing for male partners and are really good at killing relationships.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
usaar333 9y ago
You seem dubious about the market size of this. > This gel does nothing for people who just want to hookup because of the risk of STDs. So you still have to use a condom anyway so why get the gel injection? Aside from the hookup crowd being the minority of the available market, this further reduces the probability of accidental pregnancy even for them. > So women will use BC in both phases because it's the path of least resistance Maybe, maybe not as sibling comments stress. Besides, this further decreases chances of pregnancy beyond female birth control alone. > I could see this working best as an alternative to vasectomy for a couple that is done having kids It's quite reversable (at least according to this article), so its market is reasonably far larger than that of a vasectomy.

chrischen 9y ago

BC has side-effects, so currently the burden is placed on women. It's the path of least resistance simply because it is the status quo, but that's no argument for why it should continue that way.

ams6110 9y ago
Look, let's be honest. It falls to women because they have the most to lose. They are the ones who get pregnant. Of course men should be responsible. But the biological reality is what it is.
- Sharlin 9y ago
  Let’s be honest. It’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t fall to women at least partially because this has historically been a men’s world and men cannot be bothered with researching male contraceptives if contraception has already been made Someone Else’s Problem. A male contraceptive with all the side effects of the pill would never become popular.
  - dictum 9y ago
    The reasons commonly reported by heterosexual men to not use condoms are not much different to the reasons reported by homosexual men, so I think there's something other than burden-passing at play here.
    - Sharlin 9y ago
      Hm, I don’t see how that follows at all. Gays don’t have the pregnancy issue so there’s no burden to pass.
falcolas 9y ago
The burden is largely on women because they suffer the larger (and more immediate) share of the consequences. How many women who don't want those consequences would trust a casual hookup who assured them that they are sterile, to the point where they'll not use their own birth control? Ideally, both parties will use birth control.
- lsaferite 9y ago
  >Ideally, both parties will use birth control. This is what many people see to be missing. No method of BC, beyond total abstinence, is 100% effective. Mixing methods lowers the simultaneous failure rates to minuscule levels.
jjaredsimpson 9y ago
I didn't make an argument saying that the way it is, is the way it should be. I just said it is the way it is for reasonable reasons and I don't see how this new way could gain traction. Pushing up hill isn't a great strategy.

croon 9y ago

> So women will use BC in both phases because it's the path of least resistance. I could see it from womens point of view as you can't always trust the other party (someone you just met) that they are indeed "on the gel", and you are the one getting pregnant if it's not the case. This might be the big/determinant factor, but apart from that it's definitely not "least resistance" when factoring in side effects. It's tradition, but it doesn't have to be. Condoms for STDs will always have a place, I agree.

spacehome 9y ago

There are many women who are reluctant to take hormonal birth control pills for a variety of reasons. It makes some gain weight or breast size. It makes some more emotional. It can increase risk for certain cancers. Among smokers it increases risk of blood clots and strokes. Some women believe (correctly or not) that taking the pill will affect fertility later in life. Mucking with one's endocrinology is serious business, and it's a serious choice for every woman thinking about getting on the pill. If there's this "perfect" side-effect free birth control for men, I know a lot of women who'd rather opt for that. On the other side of it, condoms (and hormonal birth control pill for that matter) are not infallible. Plenty of guys want to have consequence-free sex with relative strangers and not have to worry about a condom breaking or b.c. pills being left in the hot sun too long or an unscrupulous woman turkey-bastering his sperm from a used condom or a blowjob. I anticipate this being immensely popular if it's made available.

lsaferite 9y ago
You missed a big reason for women not to take hormonal BC. Reduced or absent sex-drive. That's a large issue for a woman in a relationship and probably a large issue for single women as well.
- spacehome 9y ago
  I didn't bring it up because it's not a reason to prefer vasalgel over hormonal BC.
  - lsaferite 9y ago
    > There are many women who are reluctant to take hormonal birth control pills for a variety of reasons. Your list had nothing to do with preferring male over female BC. It was talking about reasons women could be reluctant to use hormonal BC methods. I was simply adding a very large side-effect to the list of reasons a woman might skip a hormonal BC method.
    - spacehome 9y ago

louhike 9y ago

Female hormonal BC can have a lot of bad consequences on the health (I know someone who died, one other who lost a lost of her hair, my girlfriend gets depressed, etc.) so I hope more couples would consider that.

abledon 9y ago
Its interesting to think how hormonal BC has only been around for less than a century. What effects will the mothers (& grandmothers, since technically the mother's egg is already formed in the grandmother at birth) carry onto their children over further generations? I like to think we got a nice ancestry line happening from the last 2000 years with lots of physical activity and exposure to nature.

xkcd-sucks 9y ago

In contrast, every woman I've been with, with one exception, has been unable to take hormonal birth control without crippling side effects re: mood and mental health. I can't comment on what it feels like, but the side effects are emotionally taxing for male partners and are really good at killing relationships.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

usaar333 9y ago

You seem dubious about the market size of this. > This gel does nothing for people who just want to hookup because of the risk of STDs. So you still have to use a condom anyway so why get the gel injection? Aside from the hookup crowd being the minority of the available market, this further reduces the probability of accidental pregnancy even for them. > So women will use BC in both phases because it's the path of least resistance Maybe, maybe not as sibling comments stress. Besides, this further decreases chances of pregnancy beyond female birth control alone. > I could see this working best as an alternative to vasectomy for a couple that is done having kids It's quite reversable (at least according to this article), so its market is reasonably far larger than that of a vasectomy.