Raging hormones, domestic incompetence, and contraceptive indifference: narratives contributing to the perception that women do not trust men to use contraception

Abstract

Recently, mainstream English-language news organisations have been reporting that a 'male pill' will soon be available. A common theme running through many published articles is that women will not trust men to use these new male contraceptives, though rarely is evidence provided to support this claim. In order to understand this disconnect between women's distrust for men as a group and their trust in their male partners, this paper examines three dominant ideologies of masculinity that inhibit men's contraceptive trustworthiness as a group. First, there is a cultural belief that men have an uncontrollable sex drive, which interferes with their ability to contracept. Second, there is a commonly held idea that men are incompetent in domestic tasks, which impairs their ability to correctly use contraception. Third, there is a social perception that men are not committed to pregnancy prevention, or at least not to the degree that women are.

Hybrid Masculinity and Young Men’s Circumscribed Engagement in Contraceptive Management

“…This further reifies women’s place in the domestic sphere, since they are viewed as responsible for the most effective forms of contraception (Fennell 2011; Oudshoorn 2003, 2004). So although young people view women’s control over contraception as signaling their agency, and women too shape men’s relatively circumscribed involvement (Campo-Engelstein 2013; Schippers 2007), these gendered spheres ultimately reinforce oppressive conceptions of what it means to be a “woman” and further the cultural enforcement of women’s reproductive embodiment (Lorber and Martin 2011; Martin 2001). …”

“…Previous research has largely depicted men as detriments to women’s reproductive goals. Men, particularly urban men of color, are often seen as irresponsible, untrustworthy, and hypersexual in this domain, without concern for reproductive health and family planning (Campo-Engelstein 2013; Dudley and Stone 2001; Edin and Nelson 2013; Wilkins 2012). Dominant cultural ideals for masculinity in the context of young men’s health tend to encourage men’s unhealthy risk-taking (Addis and Mahalik 2003; Connell 2005; de Visser and Smith 2006; de Visser, Smith, and McDonnell 2009) and contraception-avoidant behaviors (Oudshoorn 2004).…”

What is it to Share Contraceptive Responsibility?

“…While a rise in male vasectomies may indicate increasing gender sensitivity (at least among educated men in developed countrieswhere male and female sterilization is slowly approaching parity), many men worldwide are still unwilling to have the procedure done. Fears about compromised sexual pleasure, decreased sexual function, and tainted masculinity are among the primary reasons why many men refuse (Glasier 2010;Campo-Engelstein 2013). While such concerns are based on misconceptions about the procedure-vasectomy is faster, less expensive, less invasive, risks fewer complications, involves a shorter recovery time, and is slightly more effective than female sterilization-these fears likely find their roots in socio-historical ideologies which characterize women's sexual function in terms of procreation and men's in terms of virility and sexual pleasure.…”

Rape as a Hate Crime: An Analysis of New York Law

“…Various gendered norms maintain that men's sexual violence toward women is normal and biologically grounded, and therefore not their fault. Uncontrollable libido is one of the defining characteristics of hegemonic masculinity (Macia, Maharaja, and Gresha ), and biological determinism posits that men have an evolutionary instinct to “spread their seed” by having sex with as many women as possible (Campo‐Engelstein ). Women, in contrast, are thought to have a passive sexual nature and to innately be more selective in choosing sexual partners because of biologically determinist beliefs about women having fewer gametes than men—“hoard the eggs” ideology—and because they experience pregnancy and are generally the primary caregivers of children.…”