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Why so few male contraceptive options?

34 replies

Dustyblue · 06/03/2026 23:10

Does anyone else find it weird that nobody has come up with a decent reversible male contraceptive? It's either condom or vasectomy.

I've heard people say it's merely because the patriarchy prefers this burden to be on women but that doesn't truly make sense to me. Surely millions of men would use an easy, reversible and safe contraceptive that isn't a condom?

Just one of those strange things I've been contemplating recently!

OP posts:
Waheymum · 24/03/2026 19:25

SnickerboaHoppfallera · 07/03/2026 06:57

"Men on the other hand are solid and stable and can't be expected to put up with anything which threatens that." I came on to say something along @Jadzya 's lines; I honestly think that giving men a hormonal contraceptive which had the potential side-effects of low mood, depression and irritability would endanger women. These symptoms are already precursors for violence and domestic abuse. As a society, we need to keep men collectively regulated and on an even keel, or there'll be hell to pay for someone, somewhere.

But women experience those side effects without abusing (or killing) their partners. It shouldn't be society or women's responsibility to keep men regulated (fed? Watered? Regular sex? Emotional support?).

SnickerboaHoppfallera · 24/03/2026 19:47

Waheymum · 24/03/2026 19:25

But women experience those side effects without abusing (or killing) their partners. It shouldn't be society or women's responsibility to keep men regulated (fed? Watered? Regular sex? Emotional support?).

No, you're right, it really shouldn't be society's responsibility to keep men regulated. Of course not. Men should keep men regulated.
Yet men's regulation is a societal problem.

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · 24/03/2026 20:10

Jlom · 07/03/2026 07:07

Yasmin. It isn't available on NHS because it is more expensive than the ones they provide, but you can buy it privately from online pharmacies. I think it costs around £10 a month. You can't take it if you have high blood pressure.

Was that previously called Dianette?

If it was, it worked like a charm for my skin.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Waheymum · 24/03/2026 20:55

SnickerboaHoppfallera · 24/03/2026 19:47

No, you're right, it really shouldn't be society's responsibility to keep men regulated. Of course not. Men should keep men regulated.
Yet men's regulation is a societal problem.

Edited

Women already take on so much unpaid work (childcare, looking after the home, etc). Why does men's regulation/happiness also fall to us? Women talk to each other for emotional regulation! Are men good for nothing but working and **ing/impregnating us?

SnickerboaHoppfallera · 25/03/2026 00:38

Waheymum · 24/03/2026 20:55

Women already take on so much unpaid work (childcare, looking after the home, etc). Why does men's regulation/happiness also fall to us? Women talk to each other for emotional regulation! Are men good for nothing but working and **ing/impregnating us?

Waheymum, you and I are in agreement: it should not fall on women -as part of the societal collective- to facilitate men's regulation. For precisely the reasons you outline. Yet here we are: an average of just under 3 women per week being killed by a man in the UK.
Dysregulated men = dead women.
https://www.femicidecensus.org/
https://kareningalasmith.com/

Femicide Census – Profiles of women killed by men

https://www.femicidecensus.org

CombatBarbie · 25/03/2026 01:01

I find it odd we can chemically castrate a dog via hormone implant that lasts approx 12 months but cant do it to human males.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 25/03/2026 08:16

Because men don’t get pregnant!

Carla786 · 27/03/2026 02:49

DestinedToBeOutlived · 06/03/2026 23:14

They have made a male pill, but decided it needs some work because the poor menfolk can't handle weight gain, acne and mood changes.

No, it's more complex that that. The side effects were higher than the average woman on the female pill has.

https://www.self.com/story/male-contraceptive-study-shut-down-gunter#:~:text=There%20has%20been%20a%20lot,letting%20men%20get%20off%20easy?

No, That Male Contraceptive Study Didn't Get Shut Down Because Men Are Wimps

(But that might explain why so few get vasectomies.)

https://www.self.com/story/male-contraceptive-study-shut-down-gunter#:~:text=There%20has%20been%20a%20lot,letting%20men%20get%20off%20easy?

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