Last week, I thought the mood of the house had forever changed. My closest girl friend in the house had a breakdown. I could usually depend on her to brighten up my day with her seemingly endless enthusiasm for life. But she had been stressed about classes, work and everything else that routinely comes up this time of year. She broke down in tears, threatened to drop her classes and her senior thesis and told me she thought she was dying. I was legitimately frightened.
Only one thing had changed from the week before. She started on the pill.
I thought I knew everything about birth control, but this past week has shown me how much I didn't understand. It's like the ring in "Lord of the Rings." Something so small can create some pretty awful situations.
I knew the pill screwed with hormones, but I thought the worst that could happen was weight gain or acne. After my housemate's incident, I decided to learn more about birth control from the other girls. Most guys expect girls to be on the pill if they're in a relationship. But all guys should know how different girls react to it.
One of my housemates fits with my previous ideas about birth control users. She tried three different varieties before finding the one that worked best. She went through a minor depression and some accelerated weight gain. Now she's fine.
On the other end of the spectrum, one of my housemates almost died from the pill. She's allergic to some ingredient that caused a serious seizure freshman year. She's fine now, but the pill isn't an option for her.
Going on the pill isn't an easy decision. Unlike other medications, birth control pills are unpredictable and affect everyone differently. I've heard stories of boyfriends insisting that their girlfriends take the pill. Guys like to have that extra security, since the last thing we want to think about while having sex is the possibility of pregnancy. Condoms don't always do the trick, and having a backup plan in place is reassuring.
That being said, guys should know what they're asking of their significant others. The pill have some pretty terrible side affects, and finding the right one can be a long, stressful, scary process.
It seemed almost serendipitous that, last week, one of my professors showed us a video called "The Pill." It chronicled the creation of the birth control pill and analyzed its social implications. My professor argued that the pill is the single most important invention of modern history. And after thinking about it a little more, I came to see his point. The pill puts women in control of their own fate. Before, if a woman had sex, she was in danger of getting pregnant, and an unplanned pregnancy could threaten her future, her education and perhaps even her happiness.
I told my housemates about the movie, and a few of them looked at me with frustration.
One housemate exclaimed that although the pill regulates reproduction, it effectively deregulates hormone output and psychological well-being. Is it worth it to be in control of your body but be at the mercy of artificial hormones?
When they control pregnancy, some people aren't able to control themselves.
Choosing whether or not to go on the pill is something I've never had to consider, and that is one of the fundamental differences between the sexes. Us guys should take the time to understand the consequences of such a decision. If you and your significant other decide to go through with it as a couple, be prepared to support each other and be patient, no matter what happens. That's all I can do for my housemate.
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Griffin Pepper is a senior majoring in political science. He can be reached at Griffin.Pepper@tufts.edu.
