Remembering What Once Was & What Is Today
Hello everyone, I am back from an adventure with my brothers in Corpus Cristi! Where we spent the majority of our time hanging out, talking about life, and enjoying the relaxation of a nice hot tub! While in Corpus Cristi, we did also go see the USS Lexington. Something I ended up very much enjoying though it was, for me, a somber experience as I found myself considering the life of those who had lived and died on that ship.
I couldn’t help but think of how much we take for granted the sacrifice of the young men who died during world war two and what it must have been like to live each day, wondering if it would be your last. Wondering if today you would watch another friend get blown to pieces, or maybe you’d be the one in pieces.
As I walked through the ship's narrow corridors, I couldn’t help but be silent and admire those who had come before and given all they could. We have much to be grateful for, and very few of us take the time to be grateful for what we have but instead complain about what we do not.
What Did I learn this week?
Feminism Against Progress
This week rather than listen to an array of podcasts, I instead decided to invest some time in my audiobook library, and a recent addition to that library is a book by Mary Harrington called “Feminism Against Progress.” A very recent release that is not yet available by print in America. This Book does an incredible job of breaking down many of now common feminist ideas that our culture is today infatuated with. The entire book was a brilliant piece of writing, and though I might not agree with all points, I believe the book does an excellent job of pointing out many of the modern lies that now permeate the modern mind. Two chapters stuck out to me that I want to spend some time on briefly as they captivated me.
The Devouring Mother ( and Mother Devoured )
This chapter was simultaneously amazing and terrifying. Throughout this chapter, the idea that I could not escape is how culture today seems to have villainized and devalued motherhood and how motherhood is seen by many as a thing best avoided as long as possible as it will ruin your life and your ability to have a career. How unborn children are seen as parasites if unwanted, yet blessings when wanted.
She points out the unique and beautiful role of the mother and the symbiotic relationship interdependent relationship of mother and child. Within this chapter, there is a brief mention of something I had never heard of before! Mary describes how after birth, there is cellular tissue that can remain in the mother for months and sometimes even years. One such story is of a mother who aborted her child, and the cellular tissue that remained within actually began healing damage to the mother’s liver.
When I heard this, I could not help but find myself emotional at this picture of a mother terminating her child, and yet the child’s remaining tissues still seek to heal, protect and care for their mother!
This is amazing to me and something I hope to learn more about in one of my next readings called “Mom genes.” A book that focuses on the science of how Moms bond with their child during pregnancy.
The War on Relationships
In this chapter, we are introduced to the idea of the zipless F@#k, or loveless F@#k. Mary points out how we have devalued Marriage and removed all restraints on those now seemingly ancient ideas of how sex should be connected to someone whom you love. She points out that feminism has long argued that for there to be true equality of the sexes, women had to have the ability to have loveless sex, just as many men have historically. Somehow the worst examples of men are considered the pinnacle of female striving within feminism! This effort to lovelessly have sex has been largely successful via the birth control pill women are indeed now able to F$%# as the worst of men.
As I read this book and meditated on the effects of birth control, I was introduced to many ideas I had never considered. This meditation also lead me to the second book I read, “This is your brain on birth control” by Sarah E Hill.
Also, If you want to check out Marry Harrington’s book today, you can find it on Audible!
This is Your Brain on Birth Control
This book blew my mind!! Literally one of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time! The amount of new information I learned about the potential effects of hormonal birth control on not only a woman, physical but neurological, was astounding to me. The approach of this book is very much from a sex-positive, liberal, evolutionary psychology perspective which I tend to have some disagreements about in general. The core of this book and the message clearly outline to young women the ridiculous array of potential side effects of this drug. A drug that seems to be casually prescribed to young women as a fix-all for anything that may ail them!
As I read this book, I kept asking more and more questions, much to the chagrin of many of my female friends. Now as I share all this, I want just to highlight some of the things that really stood out to me as potential side effects.
Increases in Anxiety, depression, and irritation as the hormones within birth control affect brain chemistry.
Changes in eating habits
Decreased motivation
Decrease in libido……
Okay, I just want you to think about this, many get on birth control so that they can have sex freely, yet when they get on birth control, it is liable to decrease their desire for sex, seems kinda counter-productive in more than one way.
Can change the type of man you are attracted to. Reports show that women generally seem to be more attracted to effeminate men while on birth control.
Call me crazy, but the idea of regularly putting something into my body that changes how I think is pretty scary to me! Many of the stories shared within this book again made me ask, why would anyone EVER get on birth control?! To be clear, as a man, I have zero experience being a woman, so I can’t and won’t try to speak for them in this matter. What I do know is when a liberal, sex-positive Ph.D. certified, incredibly intelligent lady tells me that she intends to advise her daughter on the potential side effects and to avoid prolonged periods of exposure to these hormones. I definitely find myself agreeing with her.
I do not intend to pretend I can tell anyone what they should do concerning their health decisions. I just know that was I given a list of these side effects; I think I’d rather just opt for celibacy. An option that seems to be completely foreign to many these days. I know everyone thinks you HAVE to have sex or you’ll die! But this is, in fact, not the case!
Personal findings in this subject
As I found myself relentlessly digging into this subject, I found myself going to my newest internet friend ChatGPT. Here’s what I learned by asking some questions.
Q: How much money is generated via hormonal birth control?
A: It is difficult to provide a specific figure for how much money is generated via hormonal birth control, as there are many different types of hormonal birth control products, and the market is constantly changing. However, the global market for hormonal contraceptives was valued at approximately $20.6 billion in 2020 and is expected to continue growing in the coming years.
Call me conspiratorial, but I have a very hard time believing that money doesn’t play a key factor in the “catch-all” mindset of applying hormonal birth control to everything!
Q: Are healthcare professionals monetarily incentivized to prescribe birth control?
A: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors and nurses, are not generally monetarily incentivized to prescribe birth control. While healthcare providers may receive compensation for the services they provide, such as office visits or procedures, they do not typically receive financial incentives for prescribing particular types of contraception.
That being said, some healthcare providers may receive bonuses or other forms of compensation for meeting certain performance targets, such as increasing the number of patients who receive certain types of preventative services, including birth control. However, these targets are typically related to overall patient health outcomes and not specifically related to prescribing birth control.
It's also worth noting that healthcare providers are bound by ethical and legal obligations to provide patients with accurate and unbiased information about all available options for contraception, regardless of any financial incentives they may receive. This ensures that patients are able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health based on their individual needs and preferences.
Hormonal birth control was first approved by the FDA in 1961, and since this time, everything has been flipped on its head by this technology. The social landscape and trajectory of the world have been forever changed by what was once just a little pill.
What Am I doing?
Continuing to study for my specialization within Tableau
Hoping to soon begin studies in a new field called “rev-ops.”
Practicing listening more and talking less
Trying to learn how to ask better questions
Trying to learn to be precise in my speech and remove “umms” and “like” from my speech patterns.
Thank you all once more for checking out what is my public journal and journey. My goal is to simply share what I am learning as I am learning in hopes that someone else may learn with me.
Until next time God Bless!
