The Female Condom – Because Birth Control Is a Woman’s Job
December 16, 2008 Posted in Buzz
Here is something to celebrate: there is a new, cheaper female condom on the market! Yay!
As if women didn’t have to bear enough of the birth control burden: paying for The Pill every month and remembering to take it every day (not to mention all those lovely hormonal side-effects). Now we have the option of purchasing yet another contraceptive and dealing with the discomforts of using it.
Super!
Because there are no other options, like, I don’t know, something men can use? Oh, right – like a condom. But those are annoying and expensive and they make sex feel weird (according to men). Why should guys have to suffer when a woman can just do it all? She’s the one who is gonna get pregnant, anyway; she should be the one taking care of all that business.
And this new female condom (cleverly called FC2: Female Condom 2) seems just so easy to use!
The product is a long, lubricated sheath, anchored at either end by a flexible ring. Upon insertion, the smaller ring surrounding the closed end of the sheath is positioned high in the vagina while the larger ring extends outside the canal and covers the labia.
I can imagine just how romantic it will be when everything has to stop so you can shove a giant Ziploc bag up there. That is if the sight of one of these things isn’t enough to kill the mood entirely. The only plus side to this condom is the fact that you eliminate user error on the part of men. You never can trust them to get those things on right (or at all…you saw Knocked Up!).
But that isn’t enough for me. I am sick of everyone putting the birth control responsibility on the woman. It takes two to tango, so it should take 2 to do so safely. If women are taking care of the pills, then men should be responsible for the rest.
It’s only fair.
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K says:
Tue, 16th Dec 200812:40 pm
I do not think all guys expect girls to be solely responsible for birth control, but if a guy does then clearly he is an ass not worthy of you anyway. Some pluses to the female condom though are that they can be put in before foreplay so when you are ready to go you do not have to stop and put on a condom. Also, it protects the labia- extra protection from external STI's.
Debra says:
Tue, 16th Dec 20085:54 pm
The plus to the condom is it too can be put on long before coitus.
Maybe they should make a cover for the balls to protect against more STIs.
X}
Tyler says:
Tue, 16th Dec 200810:13 pm
God-forbid they provide another option for safe sex!
Meg says:
Wed, 17th Dec 20083:39 am
And yet women in Africa don't have the access to something like this, and men oftentimes do not use a condom, and the suggestion of a condom implies the woman is cheating, and this easily ends in abuse.
Jessica says:
Wed, 17th Dec 20086:13 am
Don't completely hate on the female condom. It's the only option for people who have a latex allergy.
Stephanie says:
Wed, 17th Dec 20089:03 am
Jessica–there are plenty of latex-free condoms on the market.
—
"Research shows it has a 5 percent failure rate in the U.S., compared with a 3 percent failure rate for male condoms. "
Yay! It's bigger, bulkier, harder to "install" and LESS EFFECTIVE!
heather says:
Thu, 18th Dec 20089:44 am
this birth control argument could go even further, seen when women who have had a million babies get their tubes tied but men dont get as many vasectomies (which is a much simpler, safer process, that has fewer side effects, such as no risk for actopic pregnancies, if i did spell that right).
aside from that however… ill take the pills but i refuse to put anything in my vagina where the description involves the word "anchor."
Christopher Mendes says:
Thu, 18th Dec 20082:36 pm
I agree with Tyler. Why are you so upset that they are developing more choices for people to have protected sex. I think a female condom is a little ridiculous, but I would never expect a women to use one and have never heard of anything similar. But, maybe I'm just out of the loop.
SusanB says:
Thu, 5th Feb 200910:50 am
Do you really want to rely on someone else to protect your body? Sure it would be nice to rely on guys for birth control. But in the end, it is the woman who will or will not get pregant. Learn more about female contraceptive devices
http://www.squidoo.com/femalecontraceptives
Chrissy says:
Sat, 9th May 20099:22 am
I think it is great that they came out with a second version of the F.C. My husband and I have been using them since we got together 5 years ago. He can not use the male condoms and I cant take the pill. They are not hard to use and once they are in you dont really feel them. I think that they are great for me. My husband has said that he cant tell that we are using one. The only down side is that you have to make sure that he gets in the condom. We use the condom during foreplay just like you can with the mail condoms.
Kelly says:
Fri, 9th Oct 200911:41 am
I have used the female condom many many times. I can say they are no harder to insert than the nuva ring.
I'm pretty sick of people bashing on them.
Aaryn says:
Mon, 29th Mar 201010:43 am
The female condom does NOT solely shove the responsibility of birth control onto the woman. If anything, it gives her more control over her own sexuality as it protects better against those STI's that are transmitted from skin-to-skin contact. (The incurable herpes and HPV are both great examples of what the female condom could help protect against better than the male condom) It has no hormonal side effects. (unlike the birth control pill) The outer ring of it also provides extra stimulation to the clitoris. It is NOT a ziploc bag. The new material is thinner and heats up with your body's natural temperature. I really do think it is a great option that not enough people are taking advantage of.