Here’s a hint: the title of the new study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is How Misperceptions, Magical Thinking, and Ambivalence Put Young Adults at Risk for Unplanned Pregnancy.
The study [PDF] surveyed American singles ages 18–29 about their perceptions about and use of contraception. Twenty-eight percent of young men think that wearing two condoms at a time is more effective than just one. Twenty-five percent think that women can prevent pregnancy by douching after sex. Eighteen percent believe that they can reduce the chance of pregnancy by doing it standing up.
A staggering 42% of men and 40% of women believe that the chance of getting pregnant within a year while using the birth control pill is 50% or greater (despite research suggesting that the pill is typically 92% effective).
And many unmarried young adults believe they are infertile. Although available data suggest that about 8.4% of women 15–29 have impaired fecundity (measured as an inability to conceive or carry a baby to term): 59% of women and 47% of men say it is at least slightly likely they are infertile (19% of women and 14% of men describe it as quite or extremely likely.
In a very good short essay about the study at The Sexist, Amanda Hess links men’s lack of knowledge about contraception to their lack of knowledge about menstruation and physiology more generally, and illustrates with some telling anecdotes. There are a few more examples in the video at right, in which Amanda corners several men and asks them to explain how hormonal birth control works.
It all seems quite shocking, until one remembers that abstinence-only sex education that includes lessons about the ineffectiveness of condoms and other contraceptives has been standard in the U.S. since 1996. (See here for U.S. Government definitional criteria for abstinence-only sex education. At present, 22 states have opted out of receiving federal funding, so that they may provide accurate and comprehensive sex education.)
This is all shocking in some ways but, when you think about how men are never taught about any of this, it’s hard to blame them for not knowing. We want men to understand all of this better, but we have to step up our efforts to make them more a part of reproduction and contraception over the life span if we want them to know anything. And in the absence of real info, of course they will latch on to silly stereotypes and misinformation and negative ideas abotu women. Abstinence and condom-effectiveness education is not enough. We need a full-fledged revision of education about reproduction, sex, contraception, etc.
“I thought it had something to do with hormonal control, but that doesn’t seem right at all. That sounds pretty awful.”
I thought this was amazing. I had used hormonal birth control, and for me it was awful. We don’t ask men to change their hormones to stop producing sperm, and if we did, they would riot and never take it.
there needs to be more education that encourages men to take responsibility for birth control as well.
I’m in complete agreement with you both, Heather and NakedThoughts. I used to say that “sex education” in the U.S. isn’t about sexuality at all, but about reproduction and disease. That may have been true when I was growing up, but it seems there’s little education about sexuality OR reproduction and disease in public education today.
I try do what I can in my small way, with re:Cycling, the university course I teach about sexuality, and volunteering with Planned Parenthood.
I keep going back to these clips..like a voyeur at the scene of the crime. But I agree….and I venture that women stopped on the street would be only a wee bit more informed. We’ve got our work cut out for us.
Last week I attended the conference Sex Tech: 2010 (https://www.sextech.org/) hosted by ISIS, an amazing organization in San Francisco. ISIS collaborates with activists and sexual health educators working to reform sexual health programs. Yet, so often sexual health equates to STD information/pregnancy control. Sexual health typically does not mean education about sexual wellbeing, body health, and body awareness. This debate, which is at the crux of the comments above, seemed to be a theme of the conference. For more on the various voices engaged in this discussion, check out the videos from the conference – particularly the opening Keynote panel comprised entirely of youth participants. They speak eloquently of their idealized sexual health classroom, which crosses gender and sexuality with truth, honesty and real information.