Technology versus Society in male contraceptives

By Ndunda A. Mwende MS/19/16

Family planning has for long been addressed as ladies burden. Ladies have lived to worry about unwanted pregnancies and depression with family planning measures which they take. Most of contraceptives have been targeting women and for this reason, ladies have been presented as the ones who have to take control over the family planning issues which due to population pressure, the need to control growing population has become a global concern in most of the countries.

Ladies have had extreme options including the illegal abortion alongside seeking all forms of medications from which many have become barren due to destruction of reproductive system by the fake drugs which they have to take due to the affordability and availability. Most of the innovations have targeted women in invention of birth control, and the society having defined the roles of women in the family had to adopt female contraceptives. Gender biasness in presenting women as sexual objects has stigmatized many who had to seek all sorts of medications to fit in the society which needed them to fit.

The value attached to children as source of wealth and vigor has left women with role of checking on the children as male provide to them. As population grew, the rose a social need of countering the alarming growth and female contraceptives boarded the market with hopes of regulation of population.

Technological development has led to invention of male contraceptive which most men may not be aware of since the culture has defined family planning to be more of women than men.  Male contraceptive has been on a while since its invention but men are not fully aware and not ready to adopt it. Unlike what many believe, the power of society has outdid technology by failure to adopt the goodies which were to present family planning as a collective responsibility of men and women. Even with increased awareness, many seem to be not willing to take male pills.

The development of technology lies in the power of acceptance by the society and for this case, the social need play a vital role in propelling innovations.  In some instances, needs have been defined in relation to genders and this acts as shaping angle of technological innovations.