the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill

[wrin]

So many directions one could go with this one. I think I'll pick up on a conversation that I've had more than once with my husband

Comments

[moon_reborn]

My first ever Gyn visit was with an amazing APRN in her late 60's not so many months ago. The way she talked about sex, safety and the Pill was everything that I should have heard in that terrible Sex Ed class in middle school. My mind still rolls back to the time the teacher said "sex isn't really that great, only the tip of the penis goes in and it only lasts a couple of seconds--so just forget about it, girls." That and "who's going to want you if you have all these diseases from sleeping around?" I never saw a condom. I never heard about safe sex. This was the 90's...

I'm pretty sure I'm sexually stunted, but I'm not sexually *repressed*. I know what's right for me and I know that I'm the one holding the cards if I arm myself with knowledge. It only took me till the age of 24 to figure that out, sadly. I hope the future proves fairer for others.

[ali_kira]

I too am thankful for the pill and very much hope for a world of positive sexual attitudes. That said, I still wish there were more options. I don't personally take advantage of the benefits that hormonal birth control offers (as much as I want those benefits, the risks in my case, given my family history, are FAR too much for me to want to risk... I would rather get pregnant than risk my own death....), but am ever so thankful that prophylactics exist, and happy that hormonal birth control IS an option available to most people. I know what limits a teenage and/or unwanted pregnancy can pose for a person, I've seen it happen, and while I've mostly only witnessed more positive cases, even those cause issues.

Thanks for the wonderful posting. Sex is truly a wonderful wonderful thing, and as you said before, not just for reproductive purposes.