Althouse: "A thousand years ago, popular birth control methods in the Western world included spitting into the mouth of a frog, eating bees and wearing the testicles of a weasel."

May 8, 2010

"A thousand years ago, popular birth control methods in the Western world included spitting into the mouth of a frog, eating bees and wearing the testicles of a weasel."

Actually, all those things work.

21 comments:

Fr Martin Fox said...: Indeed, let's celebrate birth control...

As demographic time-bombs are set to go off in country after country throughout the western world.

And along the way, let's continue to tell only half the story about Margaret Sanger; she certainly worked hard and effectively to promote contraception, but why? Her motives rooted in racial theories never seem to merit attention. See what Julianne Malveaux wrote here.; 5/8/10, 12:24 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Advocates are hoping that when the regulations are finally written, they will require health insurance to cover birth control pills like any other drug. But nobody is sure.

And advocates (those lobbyists that Obama decries) of every other medical procedure and drug will pitch their pet regime to the elite Bureaucrats that HHS will empower to set National policy.

All insurance policies will be ratcheted up to include all these expenses as the standard. Whether you are male, or past menopause, or celibate, it will be in your rate.

OBamacare will bend the cost curve up rapidly.; 5/8/10, 12:27 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: Good column. It's hard to believe people were prosecuted in this country for publishing information on birth control.

But we're still debating the freedom to use birth control and the right wing still wants to dictate to Americans how they may live the most intimate parts of their lives.

This is a good line, but an appalling state of affairs:

“Kids growing up today watch ‘Gossip Girl’ and all these shows where every teenager is having sex every day — and now we don’t teach sex education in school,”; 5/8/10, 12:48 PM
AlphaLiberal said...: As the right wing attacks Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and anyone else who provides information on birth control, let's bear in mind their sorry history of crusading against freedom:

Comstock managed to get New York authorities to grant him the powers to both arrest and censor, and he bragged that he sent 4,000 people to jail for helping women understand, and use, birth control. He seemed to take particular pleasure in the fact that 15 of them had committed suicide.

One of his targets was Margaret Sanger, a nurse who wrote a sex education column, “What Every Girl Should Know,” for a left-wing New York newspaper, The Call. When Comstock banned her column on venereal disease, the paper ran an empty space with the title: “What Every Girl Should Know: Nothing, by Order of the U.S. Post Office.”; 5/8/10, 12:53 PM
Saint Croix said...: Cleopatra would rub crocodile dung on her privates. Definitely most effective birth control ever. I so would not sleep with Cleopatra.; 5/8/10, 1:03 PM
Kev said...: So, OK...exactly where were the weasel testicles supposed to be worn? Over one's own testicles? Or perhaps on one's head, so as to render the wearer so funny-looking that no woman would ever want to have sex with him...; 5/8/10, 1:05 PM
Saint Croix said...: A hundred years from now, we might be mocked for how cavalier we are about using drugs. Consider how drastically the pill changes a woman's hormones, including what type of man she will be attracted to.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4516566.ece; 5/8/10, 1:14 PM
Michael Haz said...: I came of age during the time when oral contraceptives became readily available for women, and condoms were put on shelves in drug stores for easy purchase. Until then, one had to ask a pharmacist for condoms, and if the pharmacist thought you were too young, sorry, no sale.

That era was seen by many of us as very good times. Sex was no longer dangerous (AIDS hadn't yet arrived) and it was hip to be promiscuous, especially on college campuses.

The era of sexual responsibility had ended, and we celebrated its ending as often as we could.

In hindsight, that sexual freedom was in many ways a bad thing for society, as it led to this era's irresponsible sexual conduct.

There is now no responsibility for one's sexual conduct in many parts of society. Pregnant at 17? No problem, we'll throw a big baby shower, and grandma will gladly raise your baby(ies) while you continue to party.

No worries about becoming pregnant? Well then, why not behave like a stripper at high school and college parties (and after that as well. See Craiglist Casual Encounters.)

Contraception has made life better for some, but in fairness and with objectivity, society might now be a better place if there were still concerns about "shame", about good appearances and behavior, and individuals taking the responsibility for their sexual behaviors.; 5/8/10, 1:52 PM
blake said...: As the right wing attacks Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and anyone else who provides information on birth control, let's bear in mind their sorry history of crusading against freedom:

As the left wing defends eugenicists, statism and totalitarianism, let's bear in mind their sorry history of killing tens of millions of people while pointing fingers at anyone who suggests the total upheaval of society on dubious sociological philosophies might have some unintended negative consequences.; 5/8/10, 1:56 PM
Michael Haz said...: As the right wing attacks Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and anyone else who provides information on birth control, let's bear in mind their sorry history of crusading against freedom:

Dude, I'm pretty sure Pol Pot wasn't a Republican. Nor was Idi Amin. Nor A. Hitler. None of them held high affection for freedom, as I recall.; 5/8/10, 2:01 PM
Unknown said...: Padre, thanks for raising the subject of motivation. And Alpha, keep in mind Maggie Sanger pushed birth control and abortion to keep down the population of those darker races the Lefties always tell us they love so much. In fact, her pen pal and BFF was one H. Himmler of Germany.

Maggie wasn't about freedom, she was another of those White Power types out to cleanse the world.; 5/8/10, 2:11 PM
sunsong said...: I'm all for contraception and education. Sex is here to stay :-); 5/8/10, 2:12 PM
Stogie said...: Wearing the testicles of a weasel?

That would work. Who'd want to have relations with a guy wearing those? Or a woman wearing them, for that matter.; 5/8/10, 2:17 PM
Stogie said...: Hey AlphaLiberal,

Considering your tiresome rants about conservatives, I am beginning to regret the fact that your parents didn't practice some birth control.; 5/8/10, 2:19 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Dude, I'm pretty sure Pol Pot wasn't a Republican. Nor was Idi Amin. Nor A. Hitler. None of them held high affection for freedom, as I recall.

I think, despite the likely protestations by AL to the contrary, that they were all leftists. Pol Pot and Hitler, at least, were socialists or worse. Not sure of the economics of Mr. Amin though.; 5/8/10, 3:02 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I would agree with the good Father about the demographic time bomb. BUT, I would like to remind all that reducing family size has been one of the biggest contributors to our economic prosperity over the last couple of centuries.

The problem is that kids used to be of economic benefit as they grew up. In particular, they were beneficial in an agrarian society, doing work that farmers would otherwise have to pay for, and doing it for far less.

No longer. We are no longer an agrarian society (not even here in Northern Nevada where I can often see cows outside the back windows in my house). And kids are an economic drain into their twenties, and in particular if you want to raise them the best you can (as an extreme, we paid almost $20k a year for private K-12, and $50k+ a year for private college).

Sure, you can spend a lot less than I have, but kids are still not cheap to raise these days, unless the government steps in (which requires that the government steal that money from somewhere more productive). And that is money that could be spent building factories and otherwise increasing wealth.

Ever wonder why China implemented their "one child" policy? This was why, and why some economists when I was an undergraduate suggested that a totalitarian government for an undeveloped country could, in the short run, significantly outgrow a freer one.

Getting off the subject just a bit, but one of the interesting factoids I stumbled onto a decade or two ago was that the Baby Boom was mostly not caused by higher birth rates, but more by higher marriage rates. All those maiden aunts and uncles of the previous generation married in the generation coming out of WWII. The actual birth rate for married couples was apparently not far off from a trend of decreasing family sizes extending from the founding of our country to the present (or at least a couple of decades ago).

But getting back to Fr. Fox's point, the demographic time bomb has two components: smaller family sizes of those married, and fewer married at any one time.; 5/8/10, 3:27 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I am all for birth control, but Marget Sanger was a nasty racist.; 5/8/10, 3:40 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Excuse me, Margaret Sanger was a nasty racist.; 5/8/10, 3:40 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Cassanova used lemons as a cervex cap.

I am only guessing here ladies, but that would likely sting?; 5/8/10, 4:26 PM
campy said...: I recommended to my daughters that they clamp a dime between their knees.; 5/8/10, 7:19 PM
Methadras said...: There was a 'western' world a thousand years ago? Kind of pretentious?; 5/8/10, 11:11 PM