These risks are well-documented and can be more or less objectively measured, but could there be other, less obvious side effects of being on the pill?
As we all know, the pill prevents ovulation, which is probably the most important part of a typical female cycle. I found a very interesting article which explains how your cycle influences your mind and body. It's a bit New Agey, but still well worth reading.
By suppressing ovulation, hormonal contraceptives interfere with female sexuality, which is acknowledged by Wikipedia. Typically some women on the pill report a lower libido, and don't we all know how men often complain that women aren't into it? (Another reason for lack of female desire is stress, as in work stress, but that's a topic for another discussion).
Yet somehow somewhere I heard of a theory which attributes modern bad housekeeping to using hormonal contraception. Apparently, the urge to clean house is connected to the natural female cycle as well. I agree that it may seem rather far-fetched, however, I found another article which at least partly validates this claim:
Before your period, your progesterone levels also drop, which combines the impulse to clean with an instinct to "nest." We see this tendency manifest itself more dramatically in pregnant women, who in their later months of pregnancy have low progesterone levels — which often lead them to go into a frenzy of cleaning house and nesting in order to prepare for the baby.
The PMS-related drop in progesterone is a less-intense version of the same phenomenon. In her fascinating book, Moody Bitches , Dr. Julie Holland explains why this happens: "Every month, when your body prepares for a possible embryo implantation, progesterone levels are building and causing a smaller form of nesting," she writes. "Toward the end of the cycle, a woman might become dissatisfied with her environment and obsessive about making changes in order to make sure the setting is appropriate next month for the burrowing of the embryo into the uterine lining."
"When estrogen levels drop before our periods, that veil is lifted ... It's time to clean house."Of course, these changes are much more pronounced (and potentially only noticeable) when you're not on hormonal birth control, so don't expect to see these shifts in mood and behavior if you're taking it.
(emphasis mine).
Well, what do you think? All in all, it looks like the pill makes women generally less feminine which is probably one of the reasons it's so popular in modern society.
Pill also makes women more aggressive, especially if a drink is taken. AND it can couse women gather fat on their stomachs, not thighs. Making them less feminine, as you said. I am sorry I cannot put link here of these, I raid it on finnish webpage.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I read from some forum that the real reason women were not allowed to universities and such was that men were very aware that when woman is ovulating, ALL me are after her, because of her feromones. Obviously at 19th century they didn't know about ovulation but they now that at certain time of the month, ANY woman is attractive to all men. :)
The writer said that that's why her father always had only female hunting dogs: Because female dog is crazy when she has her heat twice a year, but male dog is crazy if there is any female with heat nearby. And there always is...
I think it is interesting speculation: maybe the only way to keep women working is to feed them pills, so they wont ovulate and distract men at their workplace? I now correlation doesn't mean causation but it happened at the same time, the Pill and women entering worklife big time...
While I'm rather agnostic about the Pill, there is one thing which bothers me, namely, the environment damage. I find it rather strange that progressives who always talk about saving environment are strangely indifferent to the dangers of artificial contraception. (There are exceptions, of course, but we are talking mainstream over here). If your theory is correct, then the benefits far outweigh the risks in the eyes of the powers that be since they obviously want all women working/studying outside the house and mixing with men at all times.
ReplyDeleteBTW, not only the dogs, the cats get crazy, too:)
ReplyDeleteI knew some of this information but had not tied some of it together like you have. Thank you. It was a very interesting read. Now I am wondering about the low hormones during menopause and after on a women. Low not from the pill but from living long enough for them to get low. :) How does this work into the formula? :-))) Sarah
ReplyDeleteSarah, I have been wondering about it myself. I haven't done any research but it appears to me that natural processes are different from artificial interference, so to say.
ReplyDeleteSince I have opinion about everything, I am quite sure that women didn't suffer so much during menopause back in the old days. Two reasons: 1. No workstress (even if you were homesteader's wife and working hard, the stress was very different compared to modern worklife) and 2. Brainwashing. Who profits, if women suffer greatly during menopause? Who else, than Big Pharma. So they convince women who do not even need contraception to use the Pill for whatever reason. That wrecks the natural hormones. Then some brainwashing about how horrible menopause is and voilá: millions of women who are willing to buy pills, antidepressants, intrauterine devices etc. to avoid this horrific natural phenomena.
ReplyDeleteWell, I basically think the same. After some fairly recent encounters with our medical system I have come to the conclusion that unless it's something serious like cancer or pneumonia, it's better to avoid it as much as possible. Agree about pharmaceutical industry fully, one just has to look at the situation in the USA where people get hooked on prescription pain killers and then switch to hard-core drugs.
ReplyDelete