not Broken.

A common theme I've seen in conversations and debates about birth control is the idea that something about a woman needs to be "fixed". Whether it is irregular periods, acne, painful periods, or fertility in general, birth control promises to "fix" such issues. If going on birth control is going to 'fix' me, then I'd rather stay broken. But here's the thing: women are NOT broken. Fertility in women doesn't make us broken or in need of 'fixing'. Need I remind you of basic human biology? Women are fertile for about a week per month. Men are always fertile. Yet somehow birth control goes on to tell us - the less fertile of the two genders - that we are the ones with the problem in need of fixing. If it isn't our fertility, it is acne that can be solved by birth control. Again, if birth control is the fix to acne, I'd rather stick with acne. Not to mention that there are a great number of non-birth-control treatments for acne. There's something about this notion that women are 'broken' that drives me batty. If increasing my risk of blood clots is what it takes to be 'fixed' and 'cured' of this horrible thing called my God given fertility, then, again, I'll stay broken. Birth control can also lower a woman's sex drive, permanently alter her fertility (thus making it more difficult or impossible to achieve a pregnancy and carry the baby to term should she decide to conceive after using birth control), cause weight gain, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Birth control use has also been shown to increase a woman's risk of breast, cervical, and liver cancer. Don't forget that The Pill is also a Class 1 Carcinogen. According to cancer.org, "Perhaps not surprisingly, based on how hard it can be to test these candidate carcinogens, most are listed as being of probable, possible, or unknown risk . Only a little over 100 are classified as “carcinogenic to humans .”" If there are only a little over 100 known carcinogenic substances in the world, why would you want to daily ingest one of them? To be fixed? Let me be clear. I am not urging women to stay broken, merely asserting the notion that, unlike birth control companies would have us think, we are not, in fact, broken. There are many alternative treatments to acne, irregular periods, infertility, painful periods, and the like, which do not involve ingesting carcinogens. This notion of women needing to be 'fixed' by birth control is a lie from the pits of hell. Think about it. We call it 'fixing' dogs when we take away their fertility. Why would you allow some company to come in and remove or alter the way God made you and your body to function? We are not broken. We are misunderstood, and rather than taking the time to understand the beauty of a woman's fertility, we shove a pill down her throat and tell her to go on her merry way, regardless of the side effects she may face later on down the road. The notion of needing to be 'fixed' when it comes to a woman's fertility cannot continue if we, as a culture, are going to respect women. Women deserve more than pills with such horrid side effects. Women deserve to be respected for their fertility rather than resented for it. Go, women, for you are not broken. You are beautiful. You are worthy of being respected for how God created you.