Is hormonal birth control antifeminist?

Hey girl hey,

Is hormonal birth control antifeminist?

That is for you to decide based on your knowledge and experience. This discussion came about with another woman and it made me think about some things. My thoughts are my own and I’ll share but remember just because this has been part of my thought process doesn’t mean it has to be yours. I do truly believe that we can live in a world where we have these discussions between people with opposing views and be able to discuss safely without cancelling each other. 

Also do your own research on what you are about to put in or on your body...don’t solely listen to your doctor. There is not transparent informed consent going on in the medical field. Period. Medications have side effects, all of them and pharma cares about their bottom line, not your safety. Once you do your own research and decide based on your goals and morals then ok. 

Hormonal birth control was experimentally tested starting in 1955 on Puerto Rican women who were not given safety information or that it was even a clinical trial. When some women did report the side effects they were experiencing they were not taken seriously and were found to not be credible to the study. There were even three deaths during the clinical trial. The doctor doing the research had targeted Puerto Rican women because during the 1950’s there was a huge population boom there and women did not want to keep getting pregnant. For the trial they chose to target the Puerto Rican women who were struggling the most with finances.

I know when many of us think of hormonal birth control we think of women’s rights and freedom to decide what we want to do with your bodies. I am completely for freedom of choice and even if our choices are the same I will fight to keep the right for you to choose differently than I.

The decision to bring a baby into this world or not, is an individual decision.

Hormonal birth control “liberated” women and gave them that option so how is it anti feminist?

Because we were sold this lie that we needed a pill to reach that outcome. We needed an outside “thing” created in a lab to “save us.” Something that has wicked side effects for a lot of women still today!

Take these side effects into account. Taking hormonal birth control increases a woman’s risk of depression 40-220% depending on which one she takes. If she’s a teenager her chances go from 170-200%!

The thing is, we didn’t need saving, we just needed education on how our body works.

There is a 5-7 day window where we can get pregnant, that’s it. It’s not every single day of the month. You can track ovulation to know when that window is so you can choose to abstain from sexual intercourse during your fertile window days. You can confirm ovulation through tracking your basal body temperature, cervical mucus, and cervical positioning. 

That’s feminism right there! Teaching women how their bodies actually work so they can trust themselves to make those decisions.

No it’s not hard to track. No it’s not that inconvenient to track. Yes I understand that there are circumstances that would cause this to be a little more risky like periods changing in our teenage years and then relying on a teenager to track their cycle properly and make those decisions.

I also think if we educated women at an early age about their body and their sexuality that teenagers would be more than capable of learning and using this information. Yet we make sex sacred, taboo, and shameful so how can we ever expect them to have a healthy relationship around it and to be able to make a balanced decision? 

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them. Message me or tag me on Instagram when you share them @dr.madalyndc.

With love, intention, and happy periods,

Madalyn