+248 There is so much stigma attached to taking the birth control pill even though the side effects include lighter and less painful periods. A good marketing technique to combat this stigma would be to call it the "lighter and less painful period pill" and one of the side effects would be that you are unlikely to concieve while taking it. Amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Period control sounds better though. I think they also increase boob size, so there could be a name based on that, too. But then it might be like taking Viagra to get more blood.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

IDK, I've been on birth control for two years and my boobs are the same. It does clear acne, though.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You have nice boobs and skin already :)

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I always thought the side effect should be the potential for hormonal imbalance. I've heard of way too many girls taking it and going either bat shit insane or becoming chronically depressed.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I've never heard of that. And it never happened to me. But it also negatively affects your sex drive.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It doesn't happen to everyone, but I'd say of all the girls I've talked to, only about 50% have a positive (or neutral) reaction. I don't personally like those odds, so I shy away from it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The Pill is supposed to balance your hormones. If it makes you crazy or depressed, you (or, well, your friends) need to try a different pill.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It could be pretty drastic. Logically, it removes the only biological reason for having sex, so maybe your brain doesn't feel the need to?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My aunt and one of my friends only take birth control so that they're periods will be lighter, so this would probably work for them

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Actually, when they first started making birth control it was originallly intended to lessen menstrual cramps. (Or something like that, idr.) They put a warning on the box saying it might cause miscarriage. The warning, of course, became the ad, and soon people were buying them just to not get pregnant. At least I think. I got some of the details wrong, but the main gist is the same. It was in TIME magazine a while back.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I've been on the pill since I was 13 because of my cramps, but most people take it for preventing pregnancy. Instead of changing the name, we should change the social stigma toward a woman having sex and taking birth control.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But the name would be a step in the right direction wouldn't it? You can't ask for everything all at once and not accept small steps that help get you there eventually

by Anonymous 11 years ago

No, if people thought it was for cramps they wouldn't relate it to the social stigma about women having sex.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It would reduce the stigma because there's less talk about it. The less people talk about it, the less ingrained it becomes and the easier it will be to change eventually. You just have to wait a generation for everyone to forget why they think it's wring for women to have sex.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not calling it birth control so it doesn't have the stigma attached to it isn't going to make the stigma go down, birth control is such a small percentage of the conversations about women having sex it wouldn't make a difference.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I guess so. I always thought the men generating this stigma are shooting themselves in the foot. But still, it is advantageous to the girl to have more discerning (can't think of a better word) sex because if something goes wrong, she's stuck with a baby, and it's worse if she's pro-life, while the guy can just be like, 'Nothing to do here' and she'll never see the asshole again.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My friend took it for a couple of years to balance out her hormones. I wish I could take it to relieve cramps and for my skin, but my parents would never let me. They think once I'm on it I'll just go out and have a bunch of random sex.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You seriously have the same parents as me. That's exactly how my parents would react.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm pretty sure I was talking to you on another post about having African parents who always make girls do more chores. It sounds like our parents are really alike. And yeah it sucks because my period is extremely irregular and it's been like 4 and a half years, so it doesn't look like it's going to even out any time soon.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I remember, that's why I said I think we have the same parents. My period is really weird and the cramps are killer but I've only had it for 2 and a half years so it might get better

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Not gonna get better.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's not the reason that most people take it though.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I don't know of any statistics but I'd guess at least half of birth control pills are prescribed for menstrual cramps.

by Anonymous 11 years ago