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Originally Posted by Martian
Your position seems to be based on the premise that birth control has historically and traditionally been a woman's responsibility. This is, at it's core, what I'm taking issue with, as I don't think it's accurate. Women having been using hormonal birth control for longer, but hormonal birth control is not the only (nor even the most effective) form of birth control available. It is and should be a shared responsibility, and your statement that real men take a shot to the scrote for their women carries with it the implication that any one who does not do so is not a real man. I don't like being judged to be less of a person based on my choice in matters so personal as this, and I see no benefit to risking my health or happiness on some new and untested method when the tried and true ones are readily available.
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I'll just finish by saying that I think we have had a miscommunication somewhere, because essentially we do agree. No, I do not think that women have been 100% in charge of BC and men 0%. However, I do think women *usually* bear *most* of the responsibility for birth control, and ALL of the responsibility for hormonal BC, at least as of the options right now. Am I wrong in that? We've got condoms, vasectomies, and pulling out as options for male birth control. None of those are hormonal, and thus none of them have systemic, body-wide effects on the person using them. Vasectomies are not reversible, as far as I know. Withdrawal is not particularly effective. So condoms are pretty much it for the average male, and even those have a noticeable failure rate. Am I missing something about male birth control options that I didn't know about before?
Also, I still did not say that "real men take a shot to the scrote." I said that a man who is *willing* to do that, is a "real man" in my book, just because they are willing to do anything to shoulder MORE of the burden than most men have had to do in terms of BC. I don't know if we're just quibbling over semantics at this point, but honestly, I just think it's admirable that a guy would be willing to do whatever he could to help out, beyond getting snipped (which is permanent, and therefore not good for most young couples who eventually want kids), without letting the idea of discomfort get in the way. I am talking about hypothetical, FUTURE forms of tested, safe, proven male birth control, btw... not the sketchy ones that are currently out, which I would never advocate any man doing, if it was not safe/proven/etc. But if getting a shot in the balls is the only form of male birth control available, in the future, and it goes ALONG with the woman keeping up her current form of BC... well heck, two thumbs up to both of them.
Anyway, I'm tired now and don't feel like discussing it further. I still think this was a miscommunication, and that essentially we agree.