Saletan’s “period piece” in Slate

William Saletan handles Slate’s health/science writing, and I respect the guy for being able to cut the crap—he deals with scientific advances with clarity and depth. His insight on Lybrel, the new birth control pill that prevents periods altogether, is head-noddingly good; I knew that he was going somewhere interesting when he wrote: “Technology doesn’t stop with the confounding of nature. It confounds freedom, too.”

Saletan ultimately cites evidence that suggests that women may choose to eliminate periods not because of physical discomfort but because of social pressure—that periods are seen as a weakness and a nuisance by males (i.e. boyfriends) and masculine institutions (i.e. corporate jobs). And thus, Lybrel may simply become another expression of control over women. Saletan closes with the line, “I’m glad women are free to take Lybrel. I hope, in the future, they’ll also feel free not to.”

The whole article is great and you can read it here on Slate.