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A large component is hormonal birth control. We chemically castrate young girls before the point of sexual maturity. It crushes their libido for the duration

A large component is hormonal birth control. We chemically castrate young girls before the point of sexual maturity. It crushes their libido for the duration of use and may inhibit full development. My wife on hormonal birth control is the not the same person as she is off. Its sad the article didn't address this topic at all. When you get finasteride for hair loss the first thing they tell you about is sexual side effects. My wife didn't know about the sexual side-effects of hormonal birth control until she was in her late 20's. And she had to learn it from me... No doctor ever mentions it. The article doesn't mention. The clinical literature is clear that hormonal birth control has an effect on libido and you can see thousands of forum posts by women complaining of this exact thing. Its bizarre to me that more people don't talk about it.

seneca 5y ago
We don't talk about it because "the pill" was one of the sacred cows of the Womens' Liberation movement, and any negative commentary, however rooted in fact, is taken as an attack on the idea of social freedom for women. It's unfortunate, because as you said it has significant effects on those who take it.
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  We really, really need to fight this attitude of fearing the discussion ("because you help the alt right") in all aspects of social life. This brings so much harm to humanity. I don't understand why. So many things have a positive and a negative side. Why shouldn't we discuss both? If anything, admitting a fact that doesn't fit your world view is not a sign of weakness but clear reason. I wish more people understood that, including journalists.
  - tmikaeld 5y ago
    Career politicians use polarisation as a tool to get votes and as long as pocketing people as us vs them continue to be accepted in the societal system, it will just grow and be reinvented. Cancel culture and fake news, are just fuel for the fire..
cjbgkagh 5y ago
The pill can cause a lot of problems. In all of my relationships I’ve successfully encouraged my parter to stop taking the pill and we use condoms exclusively. I’m not circumcised which helps. I think male circumcision discourages condom use. Another thing that isn’t talked about enough.
Auracle 5y ago
Some parents unfortunately might see that as a feature and not a bug. It absolutely suppressed the sex drive of my first girlfriend. I was the one to tell her about it (before we dated, even). Ironically for her that might not have been a bad thing in the end. My wife? It turns her in to a raging, emotional, monster. The exact opposite of what she’s normally like. Luckily she didn’t go on it until we were dating for quite a while. I imagine that if she were put on it at age 14 she might have thought that’s just the way she is. There has also been at least one study that showed that hormonal birth control can change your preference is mates. You’re put on it early, date people, and eventually marry. You go off of it to have a child, and suddenly you aren’t as attracted to your husband. Fun stuff.
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  > My wife? It turns her in to a raging, emotional, monster. Mine too. It was fairly difficult to convince her that it was not a "real" emotion and had an external cause. Its given me a very negative few of hormonal birth control. The copper IUD has some downsides but seems to be the ideal option.
  - Auracle 5y ago
    Hormones are tough. The emotions themselves are real, and you'll always feel like you have a good reason for them. I personally have experience with them as a man due to a brain injury as a teen that left me with low testosterone. I've experienced low and high testosterone, along with low and high estradiol (estrogen). By the way, chocolate cravings due to high estrogen - or some knock-on hormonal effect - are absolutely real.
    - spywaregorilla 5y ago
      > you'll always feel like you have a good reason for them This is the shitty part about realizing how things change your mood
starkd 5y ago
Indeed. Not only does hormonal birth control lessen sexual desire, it also modifies who you feel attracted to. A development they've only recently begun to explore.
yucky 5y ago
And let's not forget the impact this has on developing boys as well, since it ends up in our water supply. As someone else mentioned, there are those who see this as a feature, not a bug. Scary to think about.
tfehring 5y ago
I don't think birth control explains much of the difference, since usage of hormonal birth control in North America and Europe is only up ~2 percentage points since 1994 [0]. A potentially larger factor from the medication angle is antidepressants - usage of those is up ~10 percentage points over the same time frame, and decreased libido is a common side effect of many of the most frequently prescribed antidepressants. (I think this is probably also a minor factor compared to cultural explanations, but I'm mentioning it for the sake of completeness.) [0] https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_contraceptiveusebymethod_databooklet.pdf https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.deve...

seneca 5y ago

We don't talk about it because "the pill" was one of the sacred cows of the Womens' Liberation movement, and any negative commentary, however rooted in fact, is taken as an attack on the idea of social freedom for women. It's unfortunate, because as you said it has significant effects on those who take it.

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
We really, really need to fight this attitude of fearing the discussion ("because you help the alt right") in all aspects of social life. This brings so much harm to humanity. I don't understand why. So many things have a positive and a negative side. Why shouldn't we discuss both? If anything, admitting a fact that doesn't fit your world view is not a sign of weakness but clear reason. I wish more people understood that, including journalists.
- tmikaeld 5y ago
  Career politicians use polarisation as a tool to get votes and as long as pocketing people as us vs them continue to be accepted in the societal system, it will just grow and be reinvented. Cancel culture and fake news, are just fuel for the fire..

cjbgkagh 5y ago

The pill can cause a lot of problems. In all of my relationships I’ve successfully encouraged my parter to stop taking the pill and we use condoms exclusively. I’m not circumcised which helps. I think male circumcision discourages condom use. Another thing that isn’t talked about enough.

Auracle 5y ago

Some parents unfortunately might see that as a feature and not a bug. It absolutely suppressed the sex drive of my first girlfriend. I was the one to tell her about it (before we dated, even). Ironically for her that might not have been a bad thing in the end. My wife? It turns her in to a raging, emotional, monster. The exact opposite of what she’s normally like. Luckily she didn’t go on it until we were dating for quite a while. I imagine that if she were put on it at age 14 she might have thought that’s just the way she is. There has also been at least one study that showed that hormonal birth control can change your preference is mates. You’re put on it early, date people, and eventually marry. You go off of it to have a child, and suddenly you aren’t as attracted to your husband. Fun stuff.

spywaregorilla 5y ago
> My wife? It turns her in to a raging, emotional, monster. Mine too. It was fairly difficult to convince her that it was not a "real" emotion and had an external cause. Its given me a very negative few of hormonal birth control. The copper IUD has some downsides but seems to be the ideal option.
- Auracle 5y ago
  Hormones are tough. The emotions themselves are real, and you'll always feel like you have a good reason for them. I personally have experience with them as a man due to a brain injury as a teen that left me with low testosterone. I've experienced low and high testosterone, along with low and high estradiol (estrogen). By the way, chocolate cravings due to high estrogen - or some knock-on hormonal effect - are absolutely real.
  - spywaregorilla 5y ago
    > you'll always feel like you have a good reason for them This is the shitty part about realizing how things change your mood

starkd 5y ago

Indeed. Not only does hormonal birth control lessen sexual desire, it also modifies who you feel attracted to. A development they've only recently begun to explore.

yucky 5y ago

And let's not forget the impact this has on developing boys as well, since it ends up in our water supply. As someone else mentioned, there are those who see this as a feature, not a bug. Scary to think about.

tfehring 5y ago

I don't think birth control explains much of the difference, since usage of hormonal birth control in North America and Europe is only up ~2 percentage points since 1994 [0]. A potentially larger factor from the medication angle is antidepressants - usage of those is up ~10 percentage points over the same time frame, and decreased libido is a common side effect of many of the most frequently prescribed antidepressants. (I think this is probably also a minor factor compared to cultural explanations, but I'm mentioning it for the sake of completeness.) [0] https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_contraceptiveusebymethod_databooklet.pdf https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.deve...