As long as it can be defined as a choice - it must be ok right? Why is it that this word "choice" can justify or gloss over so many problems?
*Everything* we do is a choice, to drink drive or not, to take drugs or not. Especially with health, there are wise and not so wise choices. Each choice has to be weighed up and considered based on the information given. Melinda's article has demonstrated that when it comes to choosing this medication, we are given inaccurate information and marketing designed to appeal to a woman's dissatisfaction with herself and her appearance. On what basis then can we expect women to make a wise, informed choice? I'm not against the pill, but I know so many women who have suffered nasty side effects - myself included. The fact that a drug like the pill is marketed in the same way some cosmetics are is disturbing and incredibly sexist. Drugs should be taken to give health benefits, yet clearly the marketing for this drug is to offer cosmetic benefit.

When will women wake up and realise that the worst kind of oppression of a woman is telling her she's not acceptable just as she is and just how her body works naturally! How revolting that women would allow themselves to again be oppressed by men just like they were decades and centuries ago by making their bodies available to men 24 hours 7 days a week for sex without any consequences or need for responsibility and care on the part of the male! If all of this so called "sexual freedom" for us is so good and improving our lives as women, why then are there more articles then ever before being written about how we can improve our sex lives.......I thought they were supposed to be good already because of our "sexual freedom"? Are we missing something really obvious here?

Raven

R0bert expressed exactly what I think.

If Melinda were a male she would receive a barrage from women about her paternalistic attitude. Drug companies couldn't care less how they make their money. If we are stupid enough to buy into something without being fully informed as to why we can't really cry crocodile tears and play the victim.

Women are quite capable of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for their own actions. Just as men are. Not only women are targeted by money making drug companies. Men too. Have you seen those ads about 'erectile problems'? Viagra and Cialis is sold by the bucket load.

yvonne, thanks and well said. I recall the large number of adds I used to get via email some time ago for "enlargment" treatments, it's enough to make a guy nervous.

I don't think that men generally get targetted as heavily for the same stuff as women but we get targetted by advertisers and social messages in other areas.

Should the young male who spends too much money hotting up his car to try and impress then blame women for his choices or just accept that it's his choice and live with it? Should the guys who feel the need to be "buff" to impress women blame women for that or just accept that it's their own choice?

Raven, I have the impression that it's mostly women telling other women that they need to look a certain way to be acceptable. Some people will always try and make others conform to how they think they should be. Think about the flack wearers of budgie smugglers get in the media and elsewhere if they don't happen to be built like elite athletes. Think about how often you hear the term "Size does matter" in relation to the way men are equipped.

I know some women who enjoy sex themselves, not just for the pleasure it gives males. I don't know any who are "making their bodies available to men 24 hours 7 days a week for sex without any consequences or need for responsibility and care on the part of the male" but I tend to mix in a fairly tame crowd.

Some women do use sex for the power it gives over males, those run the risk of finding themselves in difficult relationships. Others behave as adults and make grown up choices about what they do to and with their bodies.

R0bert

The question is, if there wasn't any money to be made from it, would anyone still be promoting it? I say the answer is no. Why do I suspect this?

I recently asked an obstetrician friend of mine if she offered her patients the choice of Natural Family Planning (NFP) as an alternative to other contraceptives. The NFP services are provided and taught by the hospital she works in with no effort required by her. She said no. Why? Because that would probably involve her (the obstetrician) having to learn about NFP and spend more time with her patients helping them to understand their cycle and fertility. Easier to throw a packet of pills at the patient and move on to the next patient.

It's easy to bandy around the word "choice" but you need to make sure there actually is "choice" on offer. More often than not the doctor offers one quick-fix option and it's up to the patient to research the other available options. How many people have unsuccessfully used IVF not knowing there are natural alternatives on offer such as NAPRO Technology which work in accordance with the woman's cycle, highlighting and solving her health problems rather than trying to eradicate her cycle.

If I have one message for my daughters, it is "Don't mess with your fertility." You just don't know that you will come out the other side fertile.

True, drug companies want to make money. But has Melinda ever considered that some women with painful, heavy periods might benefit from the pill? All drugs carry side effects, even the aspirin on the supermarket shelf.