Before I get started it’s only fair to warn you that I’ll be using some fairly cringe-inducing words and phrases in the paragraphs to follow. Words like “libidinous”, “oral contraception”, “flaccid”, “getting it on” – basically any terminology that might be associated with getting horny. Except for the actual word ‘horny’ because it makes me want to vomit for real.
This week saw the 50th anniversary of the Oral Contraceptive Pill – widely acknowledged as the key historical milestone behind the Sexual Revolution. The introduction of this magical drug meant that sex and pregnancy could finally be mutually exclusive ergo SEX WAS FINALLY FUN: The liberation of being able to shag purely for recreation, without fear of (fetal) retribution dramatically changed people’s sexual attitudes and behaviour.
For women, the Pill meant a major change in domestic and sexual roles: they could not only burn their bras, they could fling them out the window (of whoever’s apartment they were “doing” that night). They could plan when and if they’d have babies so education and career opportunities suddenly opened up.
Finally sex wasn’t just something that sluts and hookers could get amongst. Toop toop! For men it meant more sex more often, and without that irritating post-coital ‘omfg-what-if-I’m-pregnant!?’ wig out from their female partner/s. It also meant they could finally do away with condoms. Who wants to have a shower wearing a raincoat? No one.*
So, sexually-active boys and girls, for all that it has done for us, you’d think we should all merrily sing Happy 50th Birthday to Diane, Yasmin, Microgynon – whatever you call your contraceptive medication of choice… but don’t crack open the champagne and take off your pants just yet. The Pill has enjoyed a solid – a celebrated – reputation for a long time, but new evidence has come to light suggesting it might not be improving our sex lives at all – in fact it might be doing the exact opposite: Is the Pill actually hindering our sex lives?
Could the Pill be fucking with our fucking?
Cue opening credits:
A new study conducted at the University Hospital of Tübingen in Germany by Dr Alfred Mueck found that the Pill – our orally-administered Symbol of Sexual Freedom – actually has a negative influence on sexual function in women. In layman’s terms: it lowers our mojo.
A decrease in libido has long been recognized as one of the possible side-effects of taking the Pill (among a shitload of other things: clear skin, depression, hypertension, massive boobs, etc) so this is hardly new news; however the latest study analysed the largest sample ever to evaluate this effect, and the results demonstrate a strong association between lower levels of sexual desire and the hormones in the Pill – independent of the other things that regularly contribute to sexual dysfunction (i.e. stress, relationship issues and “a headache”). If that really is the case, it surely puts into question the significance of the Pill’s role in the Sexual Revolution. Hell – it puts the whole Sexual Revolution in question.
ONE WOMAN’S STORY:
I interviewed Alex Taylor, who has been on and off the Pill for about six years. She’s in a long-term relationship and currently isn’t taking the Pill, and we spoke about the impacts that the Pill has had on her sex life:
“For me it’s one of those Catch-22 scenarios where no matter what you do you’re fucked – so to speak. I went back on the Pill after I’d been seeing Daniel for a while, purely as a means of contraception. I went through three different brands and they all left me feeling completely nonsexual.
A couple of times a week I would have to psychologically steel myself for the ‘big event’ and force myself to think these weird “sexy” thoughts – and that’s a pretty fucked up attitude to have about getting it on with the person you love.”
THE MAN’S POINT OF VIEW:
Needless to say, Alex’s boyfriend Daniel also felt the sting from dating a girl with a flaccid sex drive. He told me:
“When we first got together we were equally randy. Totally awesome. Then she went on the Pill because we were like: ‘we don’t have STDs, sex with condoms is rubbish’ so it was the obvious thing to do. It took ages for her to realise that [the Pill] was causing the problem [with her libido] too, which sucked. I don’t want to come across as some kind of pervy sicko, but a few months after Alex went on the Pill I realised I was always the one initiating sex – and nine out of 10 attempts to get it on she’d turn me down. No matter who you are, getting rejected always fucks with your confidence.”
Alex explained that once she came off the Pill completely her libido returned, however she also said that recreational shagging still wasn’t entirely problem free: “Of course, once I came off it and was back to feeling sexy again Daniel would bitch about having to use condoms and it does kind of ruin the mood – the spontaneity? And now I regularly freak out about getting pregnant – another mood killer.”
And so begins the Perpetuating Cycle of Problem Sex that the Pill can trigger.
I spoke to a small sample of men and women between the ages of 18 – 33 about how the Pill has impacted their sex lives – and have put it all together in a table (with really small print).
THE LADIES
THE GENTS
Although the responses from this small sample of peeps didn’t strongly suggest a relationship between taking the Pill and lowered libido in women, it did bring to light a whole lot of other issues that stem from Pill-related sex.
Firstly, the Pill makes both men and women more complacent about protecting ourselves against disease. Hands up if you’ve ever ‘let one slide’ because you or the person you’re about to get busy with are taking the Pill?
One of the girls that was interviewed said:
“I think being on the pill definitely ticks that little box in the back of my mind that is worried about getting pregnant. In that way, naturally, I am less fussed about worrying about other forms of contraception that are going to save me from STIs.
“How many times have I heard in the heavy-petting stage of a one-night-stand the whispered ‘are you on the pill’? A ‘yes’ to this question seems to release (most) boys from any follow-up chats about contraception and is the free pass to Nocondomville for the night.
“Consequently, I tend to be less careful about other forms of contraception. Nothing kills the mood like “despite being on the pill, I think you should still whack one on, buddy”. Even so, I have to make myself demand that they wear one. If push came to shove, I would just do it and have sex without a condom. EEK!”
Juno had baby – also might have STI
Another interesting revelation was that three out of the eight girls interviewed had never actually experienced Pill-free sex – so it’s impossible to evaluate any kind of difference. Dr Irwin Goldstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sexual Medicine in which Dr Mueck’s study appears, and he has spoken about the generation of females who don’t know what Pill-free sex is like. In an interview with the Financial Post he said “the value of this paper is to remind us that 300 million users of the pill are putting themselves at risk [of sexual dysfunction], with extremely limited informed consent that this is happening.”
And that’s true y’all: how much do we know about what the Pill is really doing to our bodies? It’s only been around for fifty years which, medically speaking, is an extremely short amount of time.
Kim Wallen, a professor of psychology and neuro-endocrinology at Emory University says, women are long overdue for a serious look at this issue. “I find it pretty surprising that millions of women have been taking the Pill for decades without anyone ever investigating the possible side effects [on their sex lives],” Wallen told Time Magazine this week.
THE IMPLICATIONS
So what does this all mean?
If there really is 300 million women out there chomping back their Pill each day and we really have no idea what the real consequences are, who knows what our sex lives could really be like. If the results from the German study are true and libido is negatively impacted by the Pill, that could mean huge numbers of women are keeping their actual sexual appetites dormant under the hormonal stabilizing of the Pill.
And IF women’s proverbial boners have been – unknowingly – kept flaccid for all these years, the males of the species have suffered as a consequence. Not only in terms of not getting laid as often as they’d like, but because of the negative stereotypes that come with generally having a greater desire for love making. Chatroulette, for example, is virtually peopled by male creeps with an erection to stimulate – and their behaviour (i.e. online masturbating) is seen as perverted or, in the very least, frowned upon.
Without the Pill, females might be more likely to peruse porn, wank online and – most importantly – have more sex in their lives.
Would a world without Pill be a sexier, hornier (vomit) world for all? Was the Pill REALLY the cornerstone of Sexual freedom?
*KIDDING. Safe sex is a must unless both partners have been appropriately tested.
[NOTE: Most names have been changed to protect individual’s identities. Thank you to the ladies and gents who were so candid and frank in their interviews.]
