"Fünf Gründe, weshalb die Pille für Männer so schnell nicht kommt"

Peter Lloyd ist skeptisch, ob wir wirklich schon in ein paar Jahren mit einer Pille für Männer rechnen dürfen. (Genderama berichtete über eine entsprechende Vorhersage.) Fünf Hürden stehen ihr Lloyds Ansicht nach entgegen: von der Pharmaindustrie bis zum Feminismus. Ein Auszug aus seinem Artikel:

At the risk of having faecal matter posted through my letterbox, one of the other big barriers to the male pill has been feminism.

(...) In the 1970s, Brazilian endocrinologist Dr Elsimar Coutinho developed one of the first ever male pill prototypes. Made from all-natural cottonseed, it didn’t go down too well with pharmaceutical companies for obvious reasons (hardly a money-spinner if the local health shop can produce a no-frills version for half the price), but it also suffered social resistance.

When launched at the 1974 World Health Conference in Budapest, religious groups voiced concern and feminists staged a boycott, storming Coutinho’s presentation and demanding that only women – not men – should be making choices about parenthood.

Think attitudes have changed? Don't be so sure. Not long ago feminist site Jezebel dubbed the idea "whore pills for men", while Angela Phillips wrote in The Guardian that "the bigger issue behind the development of a contraceptive pill for men is that women risk losing control of conception".

She added: "While we are transfixed by the idea that men might at last be able to share the loss of libido, weight gain, and general grumpiness which so often accompany pill-taking for women, we are in danger of losing track of the bigger issue: control. The pill gives women control of the fertility tap. She decides when to turn it off but just as important she decides (after discussion we hope) when to turn it back on."

Which, funnily enough, is precisely why men need their own version. Wouldn't it be better if pregnancies were planned by both parties, all the time, rather than "control" resting solely with women? That really shouldn't be such a bitter pill to swallow.