It’s so hard for women to get contraceptives when men can walk in to any supermarket or drug store and pick up condoms — without feeling guilty or ashamed — or find a place where they are given out for free, such as a school clinic. For example, any male at NSU can go to Outtakes and buy condoms, but if a female needs an emergency contraceptive or a pregnancy test, she has to go to on off-campus location to get it. There’s also a container of condoms in the Commons Residence Hall and the Henderson Counseling Center. Society is conditioned to offer men the easier option in because it’s expected and OK for men to have sex.
Men are expected to have large sexual appetite and many partners, but when a woman has sex, it’s a problem. If she decides to get on birth control to prevent pregnancy or for a medical reason, she’s a whore who has a lot of sex and needs it so she doesn’t have to worry about getting pregnant, which is its own stigma.
To make the argument that women can buy contraceptives or pick them up where they’re offered is to take the decision to use protection out of her own hands because, ultimately, it’s up to the male to use a condom. Hormonal contraceptives like birth control require a doctor’s visit and a prescription. And, they aren’t free, and you won’t get them as handouts.
Plan B One-Step is a pill that a woman can take after having unprotected sex or if she has reason to believe that she could conceive to prevent pregnancy. It contains the same hormone found in birth control pills, levonorgestrel, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sex. In some stores, such as Walgreens, you have to ask the pharmacists for it because they keep it with the prescriptions (even though you don’t need a prescription to get it), and, in others, like Walmart, it’s available right next to the condoms and lube. But, just because it’s next to the condoms doesn’t make it as easy to buy. It costs about $55, plus tax and humiliation.
Yes, the price is relatively small in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of dollars parents spend over the course of 18 years and beyond; however, pricing something that a woman takes in an emergency at $40 to $60 is just wrong; it’s punishment. It shouldn’t even be a problem that she might not be able to afford it, which is just adding insult to injury.
If a woman has sex, and she’s scared of getting pregnant because the guy didn’t use a condom or whatever the case is, she has to pay a price for her “mistake.” The punishment goes beyond money to a social level. Just having to buy it is embarrassing. There’s a social pressure that forces you to hide what you’ve done and your attempts to rectify it. She’s ostracized for it, because even though we live in an age and country where it’s not uncommon for a woman take on traditionally masculine traits — independence, aggressiveness and competitiveness — if she decides to be sexual in any way, she’s labeled promiscuous. And, when she musters enough of her dignity to go to the store and buy the morning after pill, it’s still with a head hung low and nervous glances to make sure no one knows of her shame. It’s a sexist, misogynistic idea that a woman can’t make decisions regarding her own body, whether it’s deciding to have sex or take the emergency pill.
People say, “Well, she shouldn’t have gotten herself pregnant.” What an ignorant statement. As far as I know, a woman can’t “get” herself pregnant; pregnancy requires sperm, which, last I checked, comes from males.
Life happens. Things happen that are outside your control. A woman shouldn’t have to worry that she’s pregnant, and, on top of that, deal with the social condemnation and monetary punishment that comes with the morning after pill — or any type of contraception. A woman does not deserve to be punished for expressing her sexuality.
