“Back then we didn’t have these fancy birth control methods. Like pulling out.”
Remember that day in middle school health class? I know most of us have blocked middle school out, but I guarantee if you had one iota of hormones in your system you perked up when the “sex talk” day came around.
I learned three things that day.
- Pap smear has to be the dirtiest word I’ve ever heard
- “Double bagging it” does not offer double the protection
- Pulling out is about as useful a contraceptive as praying is a method of disease control.
While two of those have stood the test of time, #3 is coming under fire. According to The Daily Beast, a paper in Contraception Magazine (the official journal of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals) has announced that the pull-out method is about as effective as the condom.
Allow me to repeat myself, because this bares repeating… If an average male has sex without a condom and pulls-out, he will have the same chance at getting his average girlfriend pregnant as he would if he wore a condom.
As if that that news wasn’t astounding enough, they go even further by listing the failure rates for “typical use” for most contraceptives. Conclusion: We’re f*cking idiots (or vice-versa).
Failure Rates for “Typical Use” of Common Contraceptives:
- Pull Out - 18% failed
- Condom - 17%
- Birth Control Pill/Patch - 8%
- Diaphragms - 16%
- Injections - 3%
- Intrauterine devices - <1%
Ever wonder aloud how there can be so many stupid people in the world? Because 17% of the public at large can’t use a condom properly! It’s reverse evolution. But I digress.
The moral of the story here: if the only reason you wore a condom was to prevent pregnancy you should be on the pill, duh. But if you also worry about STD’s then you’ll want to stick with condoms. Because the drip doesn’t care how quick you pulled out.
