Photo by Sal Ingram

It has been almost 53 years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the most widely used form of birth control, the pill — it’s rate of prevention was nearly 100 percent. Sadly, there is still no equivalent or even comparable option for men.

Currently there are at least nine practical forms of birth control available: condoms, cervical barriers, contraceptive rings, sponges, patches, pills, emergency “morning-after” pills, intrauterine devices and sterilization. From this list, only two forms of birth control are useful to the discretion of males: condoms and sterilization. Unfortunately, one is permanent, and the other presents the constant risk of breakage.

As a male, I feel just a little left out by the lack of choices available to me to make the individual decision to temporarily suppress my virility — the male equivalent of fertility. However, this is not just an issue for men. The lack of variety in the male birth control market puts a lot of undue responsibility on modern women as well.

The burden of birth control has been unilaterally assigned to one gender. For 52 years, society has been putting all of the impetus on women to take hormone-scrambling pills and install uncomfortable devices and barriers to prevent unintended pregnancies. This creates a disparity in the degree of blame placed on women when unintended pregnancies do occur.

If there were a comparable FDA approved male hormonal contraceptive on the market I certainly wouldn’t mind taking some of the burden of physical and emotional side effects of these options off the shoulders of women, especially if it meant I could more effectively take personal responsibility for any products of love.

So far there have been few testings of new male contraceptive pills because of market pressure on pharmaceutical companies to work on creating drugs with a higher chance of FDA approval. Most of the promising possibilities for a male contraceptive have presented complicated adverse effects that would need to be worked out first. Consequently, testings of possible male contraceptives have not been a priority, due to the uphill battle their development currently faces.

The efforts of some to subsidize existing forms of birth control, make them more easily and widely available and eliminate hindrances to obtaining them have been thwarted by right-wing politicians and religious leaders for decades. The male half of the population could provide a huge amount of political clout and end this war on access to contraceptives. While we definitely already should be doing this, and many of us are, increasing individual demand for birth control among men by introducing a new form of male brith control could easily put an end to this issue of human rights and freedoms.

Not only could a doubling up of birth control regimens put another very necessary damper on population growth, it could make relying on the choices of someone else a thing of the past for men, and being the sole party responsible for contraception a thing of the past for women. The overall benefit to society and the demographic of such an invention could be enormous. I hope pharmaceutical manufacturers soon realize the positive impact a better male contraceptive would have and prioritize making this medical innovation a reality.

Maybe we’ll have to think outside the box and away from a pill, or maybe it will be harder than we think to make a male contraceptive ever come to fruition. Either way, I would like to see a popular push from the male populace that could influence the market so that pharmaceutical companies may become encouraged to take the time and risk to work out the kinks.

When all the responsibility for birth control is put on the shoulders of women, it requires men to make sometimes risky decisions to trust that his partner knows how to use the birth control and/or has been administering it. In addition, feeling like one has to oversee someone else’s medication regimen has a gross-tasting patriarchal tint to it.

In the end, no matter how long it takes, making the male contraceptive a reality will rely on demand. We must demand this to come closer to a world with equality in sexual situations. Since it takes two to tango, both partners consenting to dance should be afforded the ability to go onto the ballroom floor ensured they are safe from unintended consequences.

Illustration by Caetano Santos.

Last week, hearing that the Department of Defense (DOD) was about to rescind a 19-year-old rule barring women from serving in military units that engage in direct combat, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin did what any Galahad would do: he typed up a press release warning women that if they serve in combat units, they may have to pee in public. And people say chivalry is dead.

Less amusing was Boykin’s underlying criticism of the DOD’s policy reversal, which accused the department of engaging in another dangerous “social experiment.”

We at CHP ask, when did gender equality become a social experiment?

It’s not as though the department is diluting its standards to accommodate women. Military physical testing requirements are gender-normed, but the prerequisites for nearly 240,000 “combat” jobs about to open up for women will remain the same. For example, if you want to join a tank crew, you have to be able to lug 50 pound shells while in a squatting position — regardless of whether you pee sitting down or standing up.

And it’s not as though women serving overseas are sitting safe on the sidelines. Despite officially being barred from combat for the last decade, more than 150 women have died in the line of duty and over 800 have been wounded. According to the National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, female veterans experience similar levels of post-deployment mental trauma as men.

Women already share equal risk with men in warfare, just as they have for years. But it’s because of gallant knights like Jerry Boykin that recognition of this fact comes so late and with such a heavy price.

As New York Times columnist Gail Collins points out, fear of putting women on the front lines in a military conflict played a major role in suffocating the 1970s movement for the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have created an important constitutional safeguard for women.

Barring women from combat roles has also blocked talented female soldiers from many of the military’s plum promotions and high salaries. This has contributed to an enormous gender gap in the upper echelons of command, with only 69 women serving among the nation’s 976 generals.

The perception of women as unequal soldiers has also undoubtedly contributed to the pervasive culture of sexual abuse in the military. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, approximately half of all female soldiers who served overseas experienced sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, and nearly one-quarter were sexually assaulted.

The good news is aside from Boykin and a handful of other ancient knights rallying around the standards of tradition, public opinion is vastly in support of the DOD’s “social experiment”. City on a Hill Press is too.

Participants walk one mile in high heels along West Cliff on last Saturday as part of Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a national march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Photo by Chelsea McKeown

As a string of morning joggers passed by, over 200 locals clacked around the pavement in high heels waiting to “walk a mile in her shoes.”

The event was held on April 21. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a national, annual mile-long march that aims to raise awareness about sexual assault and support survivors.

Surrounded by signs asking, “Are you man enough to walk in her shoes?” several who had forgotten their footwear crowded around a table purveying last-minute stiletto options.

This is the second Walk hosted in Santa Cruz since the national tradition began in 2001. The Women’s Crisis Support Defensa De Mujeres center (WCSDDM) organized the event with co-sponsors Bay Federal Bank, Janus Rehab clinic, and Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women (CPVAW).

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness month. According to the U.S. Health Department, one in four women are victims of sexual assault and someone in the U.S. is raped every two minutes.

“Sexual assault is not just a women’s issue — this is a men’s issue too,” said CPVAW coordinator, Kathy Agnone. “[Rape] affects everybody. We actually have a male leading [the march] to help bring in more allies.”

With a suggested sponsorship amount of $100, the walk also functioned as a fundraiser. Like many local charities and community outreach centers, WCSDDM fund development director Kalyne Foster said the organization has incurred a steep cut in state funding in recent years.

“Just two years ago, we relied completely on state funding,” Foster said. “The cuts [to our state funding] have made some of our programs almost impossible. My job is basically dedicated to getting more individual donations.”

Many participants donned a specially-designed glossy red, four-inch “men’s stiletto,” completing the look with calf socks. Some, however, went the extra mile.

Rick Creighton said he “wanted something sturdy where [he] wouldn’t end up calling the fire department”.

Rick Creighton wears his homemade stilettos during the march. Photo by Chelsea McKeown

Creighton took his own sneakers, nailed them to the wood of an old fence post, and covered the ensemble with red sequins and glitter paint.

“I couldn’t find a size-16 shoe, they just don’t make them for women,” Creighton said. Already standing at six feet tall, DIY stiletto-clad Creighton towered over the crowd.

At 10 a.m., participants shuffled up West Cliff and doubled back at David Way, holding signs with statistics about sexual violence and slogans to show their support for survivors of assault.

After a moment of celebration by those who made the full mile without removing their heels, the event took a sobering turn.

“The great thing about this event is that it’s a very fun and lighthearted way to open up a discussion about a very serious issue,” said WCSDDM vice president Anna Rubalcava to the audience.

Rape survivor and sexual assault response team (SART) nurse, Michelle, who only stated her first name, shared her story with the marchers.

At 17 years old, Michelle was raped, beaten and nearly killed in San Jose.

“I don’t want pity, and I find that’s often what I get … there should be no shame, no fault for victims of rape,” Michelle said.

Michelle said the support network of her friends, family and local advocacy workers helped get her through the forensic exam, court proceedings — including witness testimony — and therapy.

She went on to say that her attacker has been released and detained several times, and that he currently lives 34 miles away from her home. She said she no longer lives in fear, thanks to all the advocates who helped her reclaim her strength.

“But I realized … it’s he who should be afraid, not me,” Michelle said.

Foster said this year’s march participation doubled in size from last year.

“It is a really great way to inform the community,” Foster said. “We must understand that it is a community problem, not an individual one. That is why we do both prevention and community outreach together.”

The Women’s Commission for Violence Prevention is hosting more awareness activities this month, including a presentation on April 30 about “Engaging the Bystander,” aimed at helping people respond to unfolding assault.

During the end of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, Foster ushered all of the WCSDDM workers and volunteers to the stage.

“These are the people,” Foster said, “who work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for people at their darkest hour.”