This one's for the ladies.
A recent study suggests that women on the pill (or at least the first generation of the pill) live longer lives: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100312/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_the_pill_longevity.
My comments aren't about the article itself, but rather the comments to the article. There have been a number of pithy remarks about how women on the pill don't have kids so they live longer lives.
You should know up front that I love the pill. The pill gave women for the first time in human history control over birth control. Before the pill, basically there were condoms and coitus interruptus--both controlled by men. Honestly, to me, the two greatest inventions of the 20th century were the computer and the pill.
That said, those pithy little comments drive me crazy. (Yes, I know they are probably meant to be humorous. But I'm not feeling too humorous tonight, I suppose.) The comments take for granted that the pill is the only way to prevent pregnancy. I was on the pill briefly in the 90s and hated it! It screwed me up and made me fat. But I always found other methods of birth control, and I've never had kids (or even gotten pregnant).
So stop giving the pill too much credit, commenters. There's a big, wide world of birth control out there. Let's show some love for all of it!
(And PS - Don't studies show that people with families live longer lives?)
My comments aren't about the article itself, but rather the comments to the article. There have been a number of pithy remarks about how women on the pill don't have kids so they live longer lives.
You should know up front that I love the pill. The pill gave women for the first time in human history control over birth control. Before the pill, basically there were condoms and coitus interruptus--both controlled by men. Honestly, to me, the two greatest inventions of the 20th century were the computer and the pill.
That said, those pithy little comments drive me crazy. (Yes, I know they are probably meant to be humorous. But I'm not feeling too humorous tonight, I suppose.) The comments take for granted that the pill is the only way to prevent pregnancy. I was on the pill briefly in the 90s and hated it! It screwed me up and made me fat. But I always found other methods of birth control, and I've never had kids (or even gotten pregnant).
So stop giving the pill too much credit, commenters. There's a big, wide world of birth control out there. Let's show some love for all of it!
(And PS - Don't studies show that people with families live longer lives?)