4 ms·

As a gay man, it's always a lot of fun to watch discussions on birth control for men. I personally have my money on that if/when they do launch for the public,

As a gay man, it's always a lot of fun to watch discussions on birth control for men. I personally have my money on that if/when they do launch for the public, they will be too expensive/difficult to get for basically forever, and women will continue to have to bear the cost of preventing pregnancies. "Men using birth control" would become the "hippie" thing to do that you will only see people in LA/NY do. I am very glad this exists, though, and I hope I'm wrong.

dankboys 5y ago
Maybe, it’s a much harder job to produce male birth control for men owing to having much more reproductive material. I think the hippy option currently is getting the snip “for the sake of the planet”
tshaddox 5y ago
> "Men using birth control" would become the "hippie" thing to do that you will only see people in LA/NY do. Assuming it's relatively safe, reliable, and affordable, and especially if it's significantly better in any of those areas to the existing options for women, then it seems like a no-brainer for long-term monogamous heterosexual relationships.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
throw__away7391 5y ago
I think this is probably well correlated to a man's socioeconomic status.
brimble 5y ago
Lots of guys have gotten vasectomies for decades, and I don't see a lot of correlation between making that choice and being a "hippie", in my family & friends circles.
emptysongglass 5y ago
Straight man here. I have a solution to all this and it's the same solution many (though my understanding not all) gay men practice: anal sex. It's all my wife and I do together. No pill needed! (Practice safe sex.)
- Karawebnetwork 5y ago
  Still not 100% proof. Things such as internal fissures and external trickles can still cause pregnancies. Granted, the risks are very low.
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    To be fair, birth control isn’t 100% either.
  - vanattab 5y ago
    Wait, women can get pregnant through internal fissures of the intestines?
    - flobosg 5y ago
      Not exactly the same, but in the 80s a woman without a vagina got pregnant by a stab in the abdomen shortly after having oral sex with her boyfriend.
- philwelch 5y ago
  IMO that’s a similar tradeoff as condoms, though probably more cost-effective.
  - emptysongglass 5y ago
    Strictly by pregnancy risk, I believe anal sex is far less likely to result in pregnancy than condom use. And that's only compared to perfect condom use every time, which is not what I'd consider realistic.
to1y 5y ago
I think you are incredibly out of touch with reality. It is men that generally worry about unwanted pregnancies. If there was an on/off switch, almost all men would set it to 'off' and it'd quickly turn into women using any techniques available to get them to put it into the 'on' position.
DrinkDrinkDrink 5y ago
mFixman 5y ago
As another gay man, I cannot help but compare the hypothetical case of a male birth control pill and the fast expansion of PrEP. Extrapolating from that I would guess that saving unwanted pregnancies will make most governments and healthcare systems give male birth control for very cheap, which will cause an increase in STDs and a _big_ decrease in unwanted pregnancies.

dankboys 5y ago

Maybe, it’s a much harder job to produce male birth control for men owing to having much more reproductive material. I think the hippy option currently is getting the snip “for the sake of the planet”

tshaddox 5y ago

> "Men using birth control" would become the "hippie" thing to do that you will only see people in LA/NY do. Assuming it's relatively safe, reliable, and affordable, and especially if it's significantly better in any of those areas to the existing options for women, then it seems like a no-brainer for long-term monogamous heterosexual relationships.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

throw__away7391 5y ago

I think this is probably well correlated to a man's socioeconomic status.

brimble 5y ago

Lots of guys have gotten vasectomies for decades, and I don't see a lot of correlation between making that choice and being a "hippie", in my family & friends circles.

emptysongglass 5y ago

Straight man here. I have a solution to all this and it's the same solution many (though my understanding not all) gay men practice: anal sex. It's all my wife and I do together. No pill needed! (Practice safe sex.)

Karawebnetwork 5y ago
Still not 100% proof. Things such as internal fissures and external trickles can still cause pregnancies. Granted, the risks are very low.
- wbsss4412 5y ago
  To be fair, birth control isn’t 100% either.
- vanattab 5y ago
  Wait, women can get pregnant through internal fissures of the intestines?
  - flobosg 5y ago
    Not exactly the same, but in the 80s a woman without a vagina got pregnant by a stab in the abdomen shortly after having oral sex with her boyfriend.
philwelch 5y ago
IMO that’s a similar tradeoff as condoms, though probably more cost-effective.
- emptysongglass 5y ago
  Strictly by pregnancy risk, I believe anal sex is far less likely to result in pregnancy than condom use. And that's only compared to perfect condom use every time, which is not what I'd consider realistic.

to1y 5y ago

I think you are incredibly out of touch with reality. It is men that generally worry about unwanted pregnancies. If there was an on/off switch, almost all men would set it to 'off' and it'd quickly turn into women using any techniques available to get them to put it into the 'on' position.

DrinkDrinkDrink 5y ago

mFixman 5y ago

As another gay man, I cannot help but compare the hypothetical case of a male birth control pill and the fast expansion of PrEP. Extrapolating from that I would guess that saving unwanted pregnancies will make most governments and healthcare systems give male birth control for very cheap, which will cause an increase in STDs and a _big_ decrease in unwanted pregnancies.