Please talk some sense in to me

[Youbutterbelieve]

I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories but I'm starting to get a bit alarmed. I think I'm watching too much handmaids tale and reading too much about America. So please tell me I'm going nuts, I need to hear it.

I've been seeing for a while on insta etc women talking about how awful hormonal contraception is - both from lived experience and people talking about it from a 2nd hand perspective. I've mainly put this down to the increase in the trad wife movement of which these people have been part of.

But, recently I've been reading, or being advertised more and more articles in mainstream media about serious side effects of various common hormonal contraception, in a very scare-mongering way. Most of the articles are based on poor studies and whilst contraception does definitely have less desirable side effects and people should be aware of them, this information is nothing new.

I'm worried that the increase in contraception= bad media is just an underhanded way to reduce it's use and get women further subjugated. When read alongside the anti-abortion rhetoric and the gentle slide in reducing women's rights, I've found it alarming.

I'm mad aren't I?

I expect your interest has increased the ads you are receiving. I haven’t read anything about it recently.

It's your algorithm, you're watching/engaging with that content so that's what you're being shown.

I've had none of it either.

This is definitely because you’re making your own algorithm by constantly reading and consuming the media. I hated being on the pill, and more and more people my age (I’m 26) are becoming better educated on the side effects and more educated in making their decisions. I say that last bit meaning that in the past I think the possible side effects of taking the pill have been brushed over for a lot of people (myself, when my mum took me to the GP to get put on it for my periods, same happened with friends).

Stop watching all the crazy stuff.

I can't say I've seen much publicity about it, so I agree with pp it's probably algorithms identifying this as something you are interested in.

However I do have some long term health problems that I attribute to being on Depo Provera for a long time without having fully understood the side effects. I don't think that there's enough time and resources put in to helping young women make the right choice for them. I eventually found the Mirena Coil was better for me, which is a much lower dose of hormones which didn't affect me so badly, but I genuinely feel healthier (and sexier) when I am not on any hormones. What is important is ensuring that you make the right choice for you and that if you try something and notice that it's affecting you badly, you have a right to change to something else. It's your body.

There have been some really interesting developments in birth control covered on Woman’s Hour recently. Try listening to those instead.

There are issues with taking the pill though, I felt shit on it 20 yrs ago.

I saw a ‘skin care influencer’ saying that she’ll never change her pill, until she wants children and then she’s never taking hormonal contraceptives again, because they’re not good for you. But she won’t stop taking the one she’s on now, because she doesn’t have any side effects and she knows that if you start switching them about you will have issues. I despair that people watching her could think that she knows what she’s talking about (other than effects on her own body of course).
It did make me wonder about people’s sources of information these days.
But I can’t really equate the possibility of less people using hormonal contraception with the other things you’ve mentioned.
For what it’s worth, I’ve never used hormonal contraception. (I decided that putting synthetic hormones in my body was probably not my best move). I don’t think I have any similarities with the Handsmaids Tale! And I’m very pro-abortion.

No, you're not mad. It can be seen as part of the US attack on women's reproductive rights which is spilling over here. Have a look at Jessica Valentis blog on the campaign against contraception by US conservative Christians. It's scary. Good summary on what's happening in the US also here.
https://nwlc.org/resource/birth-control-under-threat-how-birth-control-rights-and-access-are-being-undermined-since-roe-v-wade-was-overturned/

Meanwhile, in this country...Practice Advice on Child Death Investigation from the National Police Chiefs’ Council was published in January replaces 2014 guidance that did not mention investigating stillbirths and had one mention of investigating women who may have had an illegal termination. The new version has eight pages covering stillbirths and termination of pregnancy outside legally permitted circumstances.
Trump is even getting involved in British cases
https://www.christianpost.com/news/trump-officials-meet-uk-pro-lifers-arrested-for-silent-prayer.html
Farage has recently come out and said abortion time limits need to be cut.

I’ve seen it too and never clicked on it. I think you are right that this is a deliberate attack on women’s reproductive freedom.

I took the pill all through my twenties. I knew there were side effects but they are low risk compared to many things.

I'm not saying their aren't downsides to hormonal contraception, or that women shouldn't be made aware of them. I'm saying I feel that the way the information is presented is a fear mongering and a deliberate attempt to reduce women's reproductive rights.

I took the pill for 20years, I was lucky that my first one worked well for me, I was then moved over to the mirena coil which was awful and eventually went back on the pill. DH has now had a vasectomy so not something I need to worry about, but pre kids, I'd have been in big trouble had contraception not been freely available!

But it’s not like hormonal contraception is the only viable or available method of female contraception so it’s pretty ineffective way to subjugate women and remove their rights, isn’t it?

Just remember to read both sides because the way clickbait works now you’ve shown interest in these articles is to inundate you with one side of the debate.

For some women.

I didn't have any problems with taking the pill and neither does DD.

Most countries are waking up to their plummeting birth rate and trying to figure out how to fix it.

I'm not sure it can be fixed. Some countries are already giving mothers incentives to have babies, it's working but not well enough. So what do you do when incentives haven't worked? You give women less reason to not want kids (restrict what else they can do), then you start forcing it.

Pure handmaid's tale. Hopefully it won't come to that.

So I think you're right, there's an increasing amount of this out there. But it is your algorithm, retrain it by looking at other stuff. Start a fresh account. Possibly get off SM.

Except that other than condoms, female non-hormonal contraceptives are already harder to get and some such as the copper coil, also have significant side effects.

Condoms require the consent of the partner so are not always an available method for women in abusive relationships and others, like me, prefer to double up on contraception due to how many times I've had condoms fail.

But yes, I do agree it's my algorithms. I have already reduced my social media usage.