Last night I watched Bend It Like Beckham on TV. Thought it was cute. Failed to enjoy it thoroughly, though, due to PMS -- which I have experienced three times so far this month because of the darn Mini-Pill!
You know, I do believe that there is something fishy going on as far as the prescription of hormonal birth control is concerned. It seems that doctors prescribe it too liberally and are too willing to glaze over the possible health risks. Long-term methods, such as Depo-Provera and Norplant, are especially prone to cause side effects such as significant weight gain and menstrual irregularities -- and yet they are widely prescribed to college students and lower-income populations, the consensus being that those populations cannot be trusted to remember to take the Pill every day. Who cares if you gain 50 pounds while on birth control? We just really really want you not to get pregnant!
I don't think doctors necessarily act in bad faith when they glaze over the health risks and just prescribe birth control. I also don't think they are sold out to the Man (the Person?). Rather, I think the indiscriminate passion for birth control is another madness-of-the-crowd type phenomenon, kind of like the barbiturate craze in the '70s or the current marijuana-does-awful-things-to-you insanity. When I was in high school, I remember being shown countless "educational" flicks about how devastating pregnancy is to teenagers and young women. Almost invariably, the girl who got pregnant was kicked out by her parents and had to raise her offspring in a homeless shelter, often having to become a prostitute and/or do drugs in the process. Um... it doesn't have to happen that way now, does it? Sure, having a kid when you're not ready can screw things up, but so can having your period every week or, well, getting breast or cervical cancer -- all fairly common side effects of the Pill.