In a case of sexist science, study on male contraceptive shots shelved because it caused mood swings

When it comes to contraception, are men cry babies? Photo: Shutterstock/IndiaPicture

Contraception. It's a widely-used term that pertains to both men and women. Yet, it means something different to each sex. For women, contraception is birth-control pills, IUDs, female condoms, or the morning-after pill. For men, contraception is a woman's responsibility.

Before you accuse us of being blatantly feminist, read this piece of news:

After years of research, scientists have finally created a male contraceptive that is almost 96% effective. But this wonder of science may not reach your chemist. Why you ask? Because the study has been shelved, thanks to a slew of side effects it caused.

The study, which was recently published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found the contraceptive--which was administered to the participants by the way of injections--lowered sperm count, and resulted in only four pregnancies amongst 266 male participants.

Now, that's quite promising. But still, we wouldn't want to our mostly-moustached counterparts to suffer, now would we? The male contraceptive has side effects after all. In the study participants, the shots resulted in acne, mood swings, altered libido, and depression.

Sounds familiar right? That's because these are also the side effects of female contraceptive pills, which are sold freely across the world--with or without a prescription.

While the researchers working on the male contraceptive shots have just scratched the surface, numerous studies have linked female contraceptive pills to breast cancer, heart disease, and of course your run-of-the-mill mood disorders. In fact, a long-spanning Danish study found that women who were regularly taking contraceptive pills were 23% more likely to be prescribed anti-depressants.

So when we hear that a study male contraceptive shots has been shut down because it more or less causes the same side effects as female contraceptive pills, we can't help but feel immense outrage.  

Sure the team is still looking to create that perfect male contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy without too many side-effects. But while we wait for that happen, we can't help but wonder if the researchers are all men. Sexist science to the rescue?