IV. A Male Pill? Gender Discrepancies in Contraceptive Commitment

Bibliographic Data

ID12259476
AuthorsJennifer Laird (0000-0002-6084-928X, Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Department of Sociology, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 9316, USA), Jennifer M A Laird (0000-0001-6570-3995, University of California, Santa Barbara, corresponding author)
Year1994
Volume4
Issue3
Pages458-468
Publication date1994-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminism & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-3535 • E-ISSN: 1461-7161
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959353594043018
PMID12346044
OpenAlexW2051489435
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited7

The limited number of male contraceptive methods is often assumed to comprise the major obstacle to greater male responsibility for fertility control. To assess male commitment to pregnancy prevention, 83 male and 120 female students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, were questioned about their attitudes toward an oral contraceptive (OC) intended for their gender. The male respondents were presented with a description of a hypothetical male pill as similar to the female pill as possible. 60% of female respondents had taken the pill, and 62% of men had been sexually involved with an OC user. 71% of women, compared to only 20% of men, indicated they were either likely or very likely to take an OC. Men consistently rated a male OC as more against nature, more of a bother, more harmful, and more against their beliefs than a female OC. 50.8% of women, versus 71.6% of males, indicated they had no hesitancy about their sexual partner taking OCs. The variable with the strongest correlation with hesitancy toward partner OC use was, among women, the notion that the pill is too much of a bother, and, among men, concerns the female pill is harmful. Overall, the study findings indicated that even educated, middle-class men are unwilling to assume the risks and inconveniences associated with effective contraception, yet expect their female partners to do so. Thus, the development of more male birth control methods will not be sufficient to increase male involvement in pregnancy prevention given the salience of gender power relationships

Birth control · Developed country · Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Family planning · Fertility · Gynecology · Obstetrics · Oral contraceptive pill · Pill · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Salience (neuroscience · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Demography · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception

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