What parts of the contraception discourse and decision-making process are rooted in our cultural background and what parts exceed culture and could be described as a cross-cultural female experience? Here are three main reasons that influence women’s choice of contraception.
Merav Zvulun / 5Harfliler
What have I learned when asking women what makes them choose the contraceptive method they use (hint: men, you play an important role in this story)
The story of humans and contraception is not a new one. For a very long time now, women have been striving to understand, learn and increase their control over their reproduction. However, the most substantial revolution in this regard came about with developments in science and technology. A revolution that could only have taken place due to the advent of hormonal contraceptives.
Recently, I had the honor of speaking with 23 multi-cultural young expat women from all five continents that are based in Berlin, about how they perceive the connection between the contraceptive method they use and their sexual health. All the women, ages 23-36, had an academic level of education and identified themselves as heterosexual, female and sexually active. Around 65% of the women were single and the rest were in a long-term relationship. The women were highly mixed in terms of color and religious affiliation origins, some came from predominantly conservative societies such as India, Iran or Turkey whereas others came from Europe, the U.S, Australia, etc. Majority of women were using condoms as their primary method of contraception; three were using IUD devices and only two were using hormonal method of contraception. The aim was to see what parts of the contraception discourse and decision-making process are rooted in our cultural background and what parts exceed culture and could be described as a cross-cultural female experience. The women expressed three main reasons that influence their choice of contraception.
The first is protection.
When women feel safe and protected their sexual health is higher – period. The women I spoke with addressed the need to feel protected from unwanted pregnancy and/or STD’s. In addition, they repeatedly expressed a need to feel protected in their day to day lives, outside of any sexual encounter. Meaning, they want to be protected from side effects that can originate due to contraceptive use. For instance, “the first year was fine [using hormonal contraception] but then I felt many changes, like a drop in libido” (29, U.S.).
For many, the use of contraception is not a “task” they are concerned about only while engaging in sexual intercourse, but rather a process that stretches along the entirety of their fertile life, “any method other than condoms feels like a much bigger thing because I have to be dealing with it constantly, regardless if I’m having sex or not” (25, Turkey). It demands never-ending maintenance, thought and care. Using contraceptives is super important for women’s’ feeling of protection in sexual intercourse. Nevertheless, women’s feeling of protection outside of a sexual encounter is as influential and essential to their sexual wellbeing.
The second is freedom.
“To be very honest I’m 30 now and I think I picked up my first pack of condoms on my own a few months ago. There’s a sense of liberation in that you’re able to go to the store and just buy unapologetically. Where I grew up, this wouldn’t be possible.” (30, India) This indicates that when women live in a socio-cultural climate that rather encourage than shaming them for choosing a contraceptive method that is adequate to their specific life circumstances, their sexual health increases.
The common threads between the two above mentioned reasons, namely, protection and freedom, are first of all, internationally recognized basic human rights. And secondly, both require a complementary socio-cultural and economical structure in order to exist. Here is where it gets complicated – because regardless of if they are from Germany, India, U.S. or Iraq, all the women I have spoken to share a mutual feeling that their environment is not inclined towards their individual contraceptive needs. ”The mainstream ideas and reality… there’s a drastic difference, people like to deny it” shared a woman from India (30). Or “In the Netherlands there’s no promotion for safety, shared safety” (26, The Netherlands).
It is important to note that the experiences of a woman from Istanbul is distinctly different from that of a woman from Berlin “sex is first of all from the country wise- not talked” (25, Turkey). That said, both share the feeling that the public discourse is lacking due to social taboos, making them feel isolated in this never-ending task “In an environment without education it’s on the women, but in an environment with education it is also on the women, how could this be?” (33, U.S). This fact is especially unfortunate for us women, considering that this conversation is in itself promoting better sexual health and wellbeing.
So how do we move forward? I’m glad that you asked! This leads us to the third reason for how and why women choose their respective contraceptive method.
You can read the full article here.