Gendering

of

Contraception

Would

you

like

to

be

on

the

receiving

end

of

snakeskin

condom?

Men and women have been using birth control for thousands of years. Typically though if you look to the past there has been a big difference in how and why contraception was used for the opposite sexes. Focus on actual birth control in history was mainly up to the woman, while men'scontraception was focused on preventing disease. This can be taken back to one of the earliest known uses of the condom. Roman soldiers used sheepskin condoms not to prevent pregnancy but to fight disease. Documentation of the Chinese on the other hand shows that 4000 years ago woman in the culture were drinking mercury to prevent pregnancy. This is a continuing trend. Findings in the past not only show that there was a difference in the use of contraception between the sexes but there was also a distinct comfort ability level of the devices themselves. One example you can find of this is Casanova's use of a linen condom, not saying that its comfort ability compares to male condoms of today, but most would find it more soothing than a female device of the time deemed the "box". Ladies of the time period would insert the "box", a 6-sided concaved wooden object, inside their vagina hoping to block whatever semen might try to escape. Needless to say the "box" was declared a torture device and its use was stopped. Even to this day contraception has been more focused on the female. When you think of possible male contraception techniques only three exist, a fourth hormonal technique being in development. The three include use of the condom, withdrawal, and vasectomy. On the other hand when u look at what options the female has the list is numerous. A few being jellies, female condoms, pessaries, intrauterine devices, condoms, birth control pills, and barriers. The reason for this? It is possibly society's outlook on females as being the birth giver and thus being seen as the one who should control birth. Or it may possibly be the outlook on the power of the male penis, it being a tool for "planting the seed". In any case Contraception throughout history up until this day has been flooded with inequalities.

1.Health Check
2. 05/07/2010
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Last broadcast on Sun, 11 Jul 2010, 22:32 on BBC World Service (see all broadcasts).

SYNOPSIS It is now 50 years since the pill was approved for contraceptive use. These days women have 10 methods of reversible contraception to choose from. Men on the other hand, can either use condoms, or choose the permanent option of vasectomy. Why has medicine failed in this department, and is this fair? Carl Djerassi one of the founders of the pill - is pessimistic about the prospects of such a product ever being made available. The climate of liability that has overshadowed drug development since the 1970s, making pharmaceutical companies reluctant to open up new concerns in this area, while the potential profits are too small to justify the expense of research. Meanwhile, scientists in non-profit areas of medicine have successfully created hormonal methods in the form of injections, skin gels and implants.

They have also discovered that ultrasound can cause temporary male infertility. Indian biomedic Professor Sujoy Kumar Guha has invented a polymer that can kill sperm when injected into the vas deferens, and can last 10 years. He explains how men have travelled from the west to his clinic in India, demanding the injection showing just how frustrated some men are with the current lack of choice. Hundreds of men have also taken part in medical trials for various methods, including Bill Crozier. He and his wife Rachael discuss why a reversible male contraceptive is so important to them. Elaine Lissner, director of medical research programmes at the Parsemus Foundation and long-standing advocate of male contraception, explains that a male contraceptive will be reliant on the non-profit sector and government backing if it is ever to become available.