"Birth Control is for Sissies" shirt

[BelieveinScience]

Just to be clear, those were comments on a post, not from the OP, although I'm sure she loved them. You can find those comments (and more! Much more!) here:

barefootandpregnantblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-medicine-is-life.html#comment-form

ETA: While I started on the Pill to treat PCOS, it shouldn't matter why a woman wants to take it. I'm sick of the people who make the anti-contraception argument that "pregnancy isn't a disease." The main goal of medication is to maintain or return to a standard of health. For me right now, that standard means having normal testosterone levels, being free of chronic conditions that unbalanced hormones would bring, and not being pregnant.

Another comment from that post:

Every birth control commercial on TV specifically states that it does not prevent any STDs. The Pill doesn't prevent endometriosis or PCOS, but it certainly helps prevent painful complications that require surgery, chronic heart disease and diabetes, and infertility problems that can happen when those conditions are left untreated.

As for "crappy treatment," I doubt this woman would want to switch places with any of us that had horrible health problems before getting treated with the Pill. Or maybe prayer is working as treatment for her and not for anybody else?

Dontcha know you can treat it naturally?

The woman you quoted is an idiot. I take BC because I have high testosterone, the BC is certaintly treating it so I don't lose my mind.

People need to mind their own uteruses.

[MrsYoungie]

I left a comment. We'll see if it gets through.

OMG - my comment is up (Kathy)

[TinyDancer87]

Score one for oppressed Catholic women with a sense of humor! We provide solidarity for each other in the midst of our suffering.

What the hell?! Why do these fundies CLAIM to be suffering and oppressed, when they really aren't? The only people in her life that are oppressing to her are her husband and herself. No one else. SHE is the one trying to persecute other women into NOT having a choice. She has the choice of whether she wants to be on birth control or not. But she wants to strip those rights of other women? I.just.don't.get.it. How in the world do they justify themselves as victems?! They are such bullies, getting gratification from others' suffering, but never their own.

[debrand]

Holy shit. My fiancee (and I, for several months) used to live like two houses down from this dipshit.

STREAMS CROSSING. This feels so weird. Also I want to slap her across the face.

Observe this motherfucking crap:

from barefootandpregnantblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-medicine-is-life.html

No one is asking for free birth control. They are asking that the insurance companies, to which they pay a monthly fee, cover the pill!

[TinyDancer87]

I put a comment up too... Alison from Texas

[Austin]

Birth control is for sissies is about as true as NFP is for dummies. :roll:

[eohiken]

Holy shit. My fiancee (and I, for several months) used to live like two houses down from this dipshit.

STREAMS CROSSING. This feels so weird. Also I want to slap her across the face.

Observe this motherfucking crap:

from barefootandpregnantblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-medicine-is-life.html

ya know, I bet, if the HAD insurance, they'd be right pissed off if those epipens weren't covered because of their employers religion.

[FakePigtails]

She replied to a comment with (bolding mine):

Wearing that shirt wasn't my attempt to judge those who use birth control. I personally think birth control is morally unacceptable, but that opinion took me a very long time to come around to, as I wrote about when I started this blog. I certainly don't fault anyone who doesn't share that opinion. Also, as a level one carcinogen which quadruples the risk of breast cancer, I think the Pill is far more dangerous than any benefits it carries. But what really motivated me to buy and wear that shirt is the fact that I'm sick of people telling me, in front of my children, that I have too many kids, that I must not know what causes "that" ("that" being my kids who are listening intently), that I should buy a TV, that people should be spayed like cats after they have their first litter...it goes on and on. I've heard it all. My husband has been asked point-blank if he's going to get snipped now. Those comments are massively inappropriate and quite frankly insulting. Wearing that shirt is one way pre-empt people insulting me and my children. Maybe it's not the best way to go about it, trading insult for insult, but the other thing about the shirt is that it's funny. It's a joke. I've got lots of friends who use birth control and I don't really think they're sissies, or that I'm awesome for not using birth control. But I do think the shirt is funny. And I do think the world would be a more peaceful place if everyone would just lighten up a little.

1) It's not actually funny. I hate the "it's just a joke, lighten up" crap. Jokes can be offensive and rude.

2) No shit, sherlock. If you're trying to prevent offensive comments, wear a shirt that actually addresses that. "I'm happy to have this many children!" or "It's my choice to have a large family and I happen to love it." You know, anything besides jumping to insulting almost everyone around you right off the bat. In the name of God at that (was "Love your neighbor as yourself" a joke too?).

3) Not judging my ass. This is my biggest problem with staying friends with people I know who are like this. Don't call my life immoral and unGodly and then claim you're not actually judging. Thanks but I'll stick to friends who don't make it clear on a regular basis that they think my choices are sinful.

[Austin]

She replied to a comment with (bolding mine):

1) It's not actually funny. I hate the "it's just a joke, lighten up" crap. Jokes can be offensive and rude.

2) No shit, sherlock. If you're trying to prevent offensive comments, wear a shirt that actually addresses that. "I'm happy to have this many children!" or "It's my choice to have a large family and I happen to love it." You know, anything besides jumping to insulting almost everyone around you right off the bat. In the name of God at that (was "Love your neighbor as yourself" a joke too?).

3) Not judging my ass. This is my biggest problem with staying friends with people I know who are like this. Don't call my life immoral and unGodly and then claim you're not actually judging. Thanks but I'll stick to friends who don't make it clear on a regular basis that they think my choices are sinful.

I saw that and thought it was a total backpedal. Like "oh, yeah, I said a really offensive, judgmental thing, but it was just a joke and it's your fault for taking it wrong - lighten up!", which then puts the responsibility on everyone but her. That's total crap.

[Nothing2CHere]

Pregnancy is not a disease to be prevented - it is the actual medicine that is doing the preventing!!!!!

Actually, pregnancy HAS caused me a disease. I have gestational diabetes right now. Even though it should go away once I give birth, my chances of developing full-blown Type II diabetes has now increased. And I already had a high risk of developing Type II diabetes at some point in my life because of my family history - it's present in three generations of direct family members. My younger brother is already a diabetic. When I met with the nurse to learn how to test my blood sugar levels, she basically told me that because I've got GD plus my family history, it's probably no longer a question of if I'll develop Type II diabetes at some point in my future but rather when. This is making me seriously consider whether I want to go through another pregnancy, because surely I'll have GD with any future pregnancies, too - do I want to keep tempting fate?

[ADoyle90815]

I think it's a little bit of both, the not caring is augmented by the fact that they think that women are second class citizens.

My mom, sister and myself have ALL been on BC for health reasons, not just contraception.

That's true, they just don't care because they think women are only good for breeding. They're also the types who blame rape victims because they "allowed" themselves to be raped in some way.

[GeoBQn]

Taking bets on when she's going to do a post lamenting how mean people from the internet are attacking her.

When people commented about how BC is treating their health problems, they post stuff like this:

It is sad and tragic that your doctor chose to throw birth control pills at you instead of treating the actual medical condition that caused your problems.

Wouldn't it have been better for your overall health if your doctor had taken the time to diagnose and treat the underlying cause of your menstrual issues?

Oh yeah, my doctor (a reproductive endocrinologist who is one of the leading experts on PCOS) was totally "throwing birth control pills" at me when he made me undergo a battery of tests before making a diagnosis.

[kb2]

If I had seen an obviously pregnant woman wearing that shirt in March 2011, I would have thought it was pretty funny. I would have taken it as a joke about that individual pregnancy, not everyone's birth control use in general. But:

1) I know people feel "Ugh, so large," when their waist expands past their own baseline, but people who don't know each other generally don't know what each person's baseline is. One person's "Ugh, so large," may just look like a mildly poochy stomach to an outsider, not an obvious four month pregnancy. So I'm a little wary of her claims that she was obviously pregnant.

2) It's March 2012, and there's a political argument flying around now that birth control should be a financial burden so that its use will be limited. Not only that, the wearer of the shirt agrees with this political argument. So it's not like she went out into the world be be like, lols, I'm pregnant, and is now being misunderstood. She meant exactly what everyone thought she meant.

3) As a life-long nearsighteder, maybe some of the people frowning at her shirt were trying to read it. She says she was surrounded by the over 50 set, which in my family consists of people being macularly degenerated and cataracted on top of our ever increasing nearsightedness and concomitant farsightedness... maybe they weren't particularly offended so much as trying to read.

4)

Apparently the third demographic group in Naples is composed of female porn stars, because finding a bra in my usual size was a herculean undertaking. 32D, 32DD, 32F, 32G and 32H abounded, but nowhere did I see the humbler ABC's

Bra-buying is weird in that it seems like when you go your size is absent while everyone else's is present. I was a 34A for a while, which is a hard size to find. But there's no need to insult the bra sizes you see. Women with larger cup sizes are sometimes self-conscious about that fact, and there's plenty of people who were well-endowed naturally, without surgery or a job in the sex industry. There are Catholic, NFP-practicing women with many children who happen to have large breasts, asshole.

5) I thought Trader Joe's was high-end? Do they really have "reasonably priced" food? She spends the rest of the post being jealous of people who are wealthier than her (the mall is soooo ritzy, with its Nordstrom's and Baby Gap and tourists who are...shopping at the same stores she is), then at the end she's like, "Surprise, I can afford three gallons of milk a week!"

6) A forty year old woman manning the counter at Haagen-Dazs didn't spit in her daughter's milkshake, but she couldn't be trusted not to because not wanting to have a child later in life with a higher risk of genetic disorders and a definite risk of financial issues while working at a close to minimum wage job and being faced with a woman over a decade younger than you who can shop at Trader Joe's regularly and thinks she knows what's best for your ovaries makes you a sissy.

[Spider Burps]

kb2, Trader Joe's is actually fairly inexpensive because they are store-brand only (iirc) like Aldi--because they're owned by Aldi. I don't like a lot of their foods, but they aren't on the same level of expensive as Whole Foods by any means.

[freejoytoo]

I shouldn't have to defend my right to birth control. I got it for what she would consider 'slutty' reasons, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. My friend got it because when she had her period she would faint when she got up due to loss of blood. These people are disgusting and I hate it when they cry persecution. No one's telling them they can't have lots of kids but they're saying no one should have access to birth control. People like this make my blood boil with rage.

[kb2]

kb2, Trader Joe's is actually fairly inexpensive because they are store-brand only (iirc) like Aldi--because they're owned by Aldi. I don't like a lot of their foods, but they aren't on the same level of expensive as Whole Foods by any means.

Ah. I don't have either in my area, so I only know them from out of town excursions, where I or other people spend a lot to stock up.

ETA: Also, both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's won't come to my area even though we've got enough people here because the people who are here have too low of an economic status. So I assumed it also required some money to be frequented.

[smores]

Another pregnancy at this point in my life would kill me. The first caused so many medical issues that I am thankful to be alive.

I hate people like her. I'll take my little pill and enjoy being around for my daughter, you fucking bitch.

Edit: I am on BC because it is possible that some day, after a long stint on BC to regulate my hormones, the hypertension will go away. It was caused by pregnancy - there is no other explanation for how someone can go from normal BP to dangerous hypertension in 4 weeks. (120/72 to 178/110) BC and limited hypertension medications ARE the medicine for my problem, bitch! Ugh. I can't take much more of the stupid. It really does burn today.

[Feberin]

The shirt on a visably pregnant woman wouldn't really bug me. I'd think it was a joke about that particular pregnancy not a mission statement. I know I've seen a bunch of maternity shirts with really stupid statements. However I wouldn't wear one just like I don't wear any maternity shirts that comment on my pregnancy because most of them aren't really that funny to me.

However her whole blog post makes it clear that there was way more to her wearing the shirt then thinking it was funny or cute. And I question how pregnant she actually looks. She said she looked around four months along but four months to me does not mean you're necessarily obviously pregnant. I know when I was four months along I more looked just like I'd put on some weight then having a really pregnant look. And wearing any of the funny maternity shirts before you're showing seems in poor taste to me since people won't get the joke.

She commented about the people at Nordstroms not appreciating her shirt OR her high spirted children. I wonder if her daughters were running around and playing with bras. I know if I worked in a store and there were kids messing up stuff I wouldn't be smiling at their mother. I know she never said that was the case but I find the term high-spirited to mean they weren't obediantly following her around. If she wants more choices in terms of bras she should have gone to Victoria's Secret ;).

Also the only time I've had "porn star" breasts (anything above a D according to her) was while pregnant or breast feeding. And the whole if you don't want to ovulate just get pregnant and breastfeed well I got my period six weeks after my son was born and I was exclusively breastfeeding.

[Minerva]

It's quite frustrating to see people with this level of ignorance talking about how they think doctors should treat patients. You know why doctors "throw birth control at" certain reproductive/endocrine conditions? Because it's easier than fucking surgery. It treats a variety of conditions far more gently than any other treatment options out there which is quite nice for the patient, though I realize these people don't care about them.

[Swamptribe]

Wish I were better at putting my thoughts into words.

Reading crap like this, the phrase 'can't see beyond their own nose' comes to mind. People like that cannot imagine things being any way but the way they are. They believe their reality is the reality for everyone. They have no feeling, no reason telling them that not everyone's life is the same. They are not just ignorant; not just stupid, what they are is blindly self-centered.

[Austin]

My doctor put me a room with a bunch of sex-crazed women and then tossed in a handful of birth control pills and we all dove onto the floor and wrestled each other for 'em. :D

[Third]

Very late to the thread but I can see how it's funny even from non-fundies to wear that shirt while pregnant.

[amydamy]

ya know, I bet, if the HAD insurance, they'd be right pissed off if those epipens weren't covered because of their employers religion.

I kinda want to tell her my epipens only cost me $5 through my insurance but my BC which retails for $65/month costs me $50

[FakePigtails]

It's quite frustrating to see people with this level of ignorance talking about how they think doctors should treat patients. You know why doctors "throw birth control at" certain reproductive/endocrine conditions? Because it's easier than fucking surgery. It treats a variety of conditions far more gently than any other treatment options out there which is quite nice for the patient, though I realize these people don't care about them.

I don't remember where it was but I saw someone once saying that instead of birth control pills women with PCOS should go the natural route - of ovarian resectioning surgery! What's that natural and safe about going under the knife (anesthesia and pain killers are chemicals as much as bc, but at least they're not hormones :roll:)? I'll take my slightly higher chance of breast cancer and slightly lower chance of ovarian cancer thankyouverymuch. Both have occurred in my family but at least breast cancer can be detected early . . .

[SpeakNow]

And she strikes again!

http://barefootandpregnantblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-medicine-is-life.html