Sarah Haider annoys me to no end with her tirades against hormonal birth control. I get that it didn't work for her and gave her brain fog, but that particular experience seemed to make her credulous towards every single fantastical claim about it:
"if you chose your husband off the pill, you will no longer appreciate the manly charms tha…
Sarah Haider annoys me to no end with her tirades against hormonal birth control. I get that it didn't work for her and gave her brain fog, but that particular experience seemed to make her credulous towards every single fantastical claim about it:
"if you chose your husband off the pill, you will no longer appreciate the manly charms that helped drive you to him, making him a less appealing partner overall."
"find the right one as may make your acne worse (or better), increase your shape-rotation abilities (or worsen them)."
"As so much of “who we are” relies on our hormones, when the pill changes them, it necessarily changes us."
"We know what it means to gain more choice. Do we know what it means to lose ourselves?"
I've been on hormonal birth control for years, but it doesn't turn me into some kind of alien. It's just weird to hear her--especially on the podcast--talking about how most women don't exist "as they actually are" anymore. Sure, maybe, if we all had massive amounts of brain fog all the time thanks to it, but most of us don't, and it just seems like by her saying "no" to the pill she's turned it into this big scary thing that she can feel superior about being drug-free and "truly herself" by not taking it.
Yes I agree. I do think it's a good idea for us to be more sceptical of hormonal contraceptives in general and I personally enjoy not being on them anymore. But the pill was and is still a great option for me and many women and it definitely didn't turn me into a different person. It was fine. I do bristle a bit at it being something we just give it to teenage girls as a matter of course.
Lol I'm the dream my childhood evangelical culture wishes were general reality: no sex until I got married, no birth control till a few months before marriage to make sure it was working by then. And ten years + one kid later it all actually worked out for me, no complaints. So I'm a weird mix of pretty traditional and pretty progressive and I have no idea how to give good relationship advice. But yeah I'm pretty far away from just giving it to teenage girls, unless they have really painful periods. And I definitely think we need better birth control options in general.
Sarah Haider annoys me to no end with her tirades against hormonal birth control. I get that it didn't work for her and gave her brain fog, but that particular experience seemed to make her credulous towards every single fantastical claim about it:
"if you chose your husband off the pill, you will no longer appreciate the manly charms that helped drive you to him, making him a less appealing partner overall."
"find the right one as may make your acne worse (or better), increase your shape-rotation abilities (or worsen them)."
"As so much of “who we are” relies on our hormones, when the pill changes them, it necessarily changes us."
"We know what it means to gain more choice. Do we know what it means to lose ourselves?"
https://sarahhaider.substack.com/p/reduced-to-ourselves?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
I've been on hormonal birth control for years, but it doesn't turn me into some kind of alien. It's just weird to hear her--especially on the podcast--talking about how most women don't exist "as they actually are" anymore. Sure, maybe, if we all had massive amounts of brain fog all the time thanks to it, but most of us don't, and it just seems like by her saying "no" to the pill she's turned it into this big scary thing that she can feel superior about being drug-free and "truly herself" by not taking it.
Yes I agree. I do think it's a good idea for us to be more sceptical of hormonal contraceptives in general and I personally enjoy not being on them anymore. But the pill was and is still a great option for me and many women and it definitely didn't turn me into a different person. It was fine. I do bristle a bit at it being something we just give it to teenage girls as a matter of course.
Lol I'm the dream my childhood evangelical culture wishes were general reality: no sex until I got married, no birth control till a few months before marriage to make sure it was working by then. And ten years + one kid later it all actually worked out for me, no complaints. So I'm a weird mix of pretty traditional and pretty progressive and I have no idea how to give good relationship advice. But yeah I'm pretty far away from just giving it to teenage girls, unless they have really painful periods. And I definitely think we need better birth control options in general.