This is ludicrous. There is nothing bad or unhealthy about leveling off estrogen/progestin production in the body. Overdosing would be bad, taking it without a physical and doctor's advice would be bad, but the birth control pill is a great boon to women everywhere, allowing us to take control of our own cycles and our own reproductive health without depending on men to provide it.
Most ob/gyn physicians have agreed that no more than four menstrual periods per year are anywhere near necessary to maintain health in the female reproductive system. Monthly periods only occur in the industrialized, first-world nations, and even there it is only very recent in human history due to a former culture of constant pregnancy and malnutrition. It's not a level-one crucial function, it's an inconvenience of modern life, invented by cushy living and the choice to not have babies.
I've known women whose PMS symptoms cripple them for days out of every month whose only relief had been the leveling effect of the birth control pill. In their case, "feeling like a woman" would mean taking off from work to vomit from the strength of their cramps. Do you really think that the "natural" way is the best for them? Are they less womanly for not wanting to suffer these things?
As a user of an estrogen-progestin pill, I feel no less "connected to my body" than I did beforehand. However I now feel more consistently clear skin, milder cramps, no headaches, lowered food cravings, almost no mood swings at all, and I never have to break out fat pants just because it's that time of the month. Perhaps I am too small of a sample, but I certainly don't feel as though I am any less of a woman than I was before.
Incidentally, I am also insulted by the idea that my reproductive system "weaves in and out of the realm of understanding." I don't know about you, but with even a moderate amount of education, I think it's pretty easy to understand nearly everything that goes on in the female reproductive system. This the year 2009, and it is simply irresponsible as a woman to know only that "we have a period once a month" and leave it at that. It's no more mystical than digestion or muscle contraction, it's just another set of functions in human physiology, and with a few keywords typed into a search engine, one can soon be perfectly clear on it right down to the cellular level. Google is your friend!
Comment Reply
This is ludicrous. There is nothing bad or unhealthy about leveling off estrogen/progestin production in the body. Overdosing would be bad, taking it without a physical and doctor's advice would be bad, but the birth control pill is a great boon to women everywhere, allowing us to take control of our own cycles and our own reproductive health without depending on men to provide it.
Most ob/gyn physicians have agreed that no more than four menstrual periods per year are anywhere near necessary to maintain health in the female reproductive system. Monthly periods only occur in the industrialized, first-world nations, and even there it is only very recent in human history due to a former culture of constant pregnancy and malnutrition. It's not a level-one crucial function, it's an inconvenience of modern life, invented by cushy living and the choice to not have babies.
I've known women whose PMS symptoms cripple them for days out of every month whose only relief had been the leveling effect of the birth control pill. In their case, "feeling like a woman" would mean taking off from work to vomit from the strength of their cramps. Do you really think that the "natural" way is the best for them? Are they less womanly for not wanting to suffer these things?
As a user of an estrogen-progestin pill, I feel no less "connected to my body" than I did beforehand. However I now feel more consistently clear skin, milder cramps, no headaches, lowered food cravings, almost no mood swings at all, and I never have to break out fat pants just because it's that time of the month. Perhaps I am too small of a sample, but I certainly don't feel as though I am any less of a woman than I was before.
Incidentally, I am also insulted by the idea that my reproductive system "weaves in and out of the realm of understanding." I don't know about you, but with even a moderate amount of education, I think it's pretty easy to understand nearly everything that goes on in the female reproductive system. This the year 2009, and it is simply irresponsible as a woman to know only that "we have a period once a month" and leave it at that. It's no more mystical than digestion or muscle contraction, it's just another set of functions in human physiology, and with a few keywords typed into a search engine, one can soon be perfectly clear on it right down to the cellular level. Google is your friend!
December 1, 2009 - 2:35pmThis Comment
Reply