birth control pill

The erosion of marriage and the mimetic death of family Recent data from the Wall Street Journal reveals a startling shift in societal values: 40% of young adults believe marriage has outlived its usefulness. Louise Perry argues this isn't merely a change in preference but a consequence of environmental observation. In major Western hubs like London, nearly half of children reach age 15 without living with their biological father. When young people look around and see a landscape of fractured homes, they conclude that the institution of marriage is fundamentally broken. This creates a feedback loop of **mimetic desire**. Mary Harrington posits that the visibility of family life drives the desire for it. As families become less visible and motherhood is increasingly framed as a burden, fewer people choose that path. This is supported by demographic data showing that childbearing is socially contagious; if your close friend or sister has a baby, your likelihood of doing the same spikes within two years. Conversely, in a culture of zero or one-child families, the "natural settling point" of 2.1 children—once assumed by demographers to be a human default—evaporates. We are not driven by biological laws of replacement but by what we perceive as normal among our peers. This downward spiral in fertility suggests that our "free will" is heavily mediated by the life templates we see others following. From licentiousness to the new prudishness Cultural history functions like a roller coaster, oscillating between periods of extreme excess and reactionary restraint. Perry suggests we are currently at a tipping point, transitioning from a period of high licentiousness back toward a new form of prudishness. However, this cycle differs from previous ones due to the intervention of the Birth Control Pill. Historically, the biological costs of sex provided a natural "glass ceiling" on how licentious a society could be. The invention of the pill removed those material consequences, but it did not remove the psychological or social fallout. We now see the rise of the **Goop class**—affluent, wellness-oriented women who are rejecting hormonal birth control not for religious reasons, but due to concerns about health and mood. This group utilizes Natural Cycles and fertility tracking, essentially rebranding Catholic technology for a secular audience. At the same time, Gen Z is leading a pushback against the hyper-sexualization of media. A UCLA study found that nearly half of young people feel sex is unnecessary for movie plots, preferring content centered on platonic friendships. This suggests a growing discomfort with a culture that has made sex ubiquitous yet increasingly transactional and graphic. The hormonal fallout and the decline of male testosterone One of the most controversial elements of the modern dating landscape is the physiological impact of hormonal birth control on both sexes. Dr. Sarah Hill notes that the pill fundamentally alters a woman's brain and her choice of partner. While on the pill, women tend to select for "provisioners"—agreeable, stable men—rather than "protectors" with high testosterone. This creates a "hormonal fugue state" that can lead to relationship dissolution if the woman stops the medication and finds she is no longer attracted to her partner's scent or disposition. Furthermore, there is evidence that the widespread use of birth control may be lowering male testosterone levels through ecological feedback. Male testosterone is mediated by the presence of fertile women in the local environment; when women suppress their fertility through hormones, male testosterone may drop in response. Coupled with processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and the "soy culture" of the internet, we are witnessing a sex recession. Chris Williamson points out that male testosterone has dropped roughly 1% per year since the 1950s. This creates a society of "online, placid people" who avoid conflict but also lack the drive to form families or participate in high-stakes social roles like the military. Why every flourishing culture in history has been patriarchal Louise Perry offers a "black pill" analysis of human history: every culture that has successfully reproduced and sustained itself over centuries has been patriarchal. This is not necessarily a defense of tyranny, but an observation of the irreconcilable clash between the modern labor market and human reproduction. For most women, having multiple children is incompatible with a high-powered career. In a system that treats men and women as identical economic units, the biological reality of pregnancy and breastfeeding becomes a professional disadvantage. Mainstream culture prioritizes short-term pleasure and career status over the long-term investment of children. This leads to a demographic bottleneck. South Korea, for instance, has a fertility rate so low that for every 100 people today, there will only be four great-grandchildren. When a culture stops reproducing itself, it is eventually replaced by more traditionalist or religious cultures that prioritize family over individual career fulfillment. The "equality" promised by the sexual revolution often means women working like their fathers and having sex like their brothers, but this template fails to provide the structural support needed for a society to survive its own success. MeToo and the death of the gentlemanly code The MeToo Movement was a necessary correction to criminal behavior, but Perry argues its fallout has been messy. By smearing the entire male population with the same brush, the movement has mostly affected "nice guys" who are now terrified of approaching women in person. Conversely, predatory men—who are often repeat offenders—have not changed their behavior because of a hashtag. This has led to a collapse in the "gentlemanly code" that once governed social interaction. Historically, **chivalry** acted as a support structure for women, recognizing the physical asymmetry between the sexes. When we deconstruct these norms in the name of total equality, we remove the protections that lower-status women rely on most. Perry notes that the bar for sexual behavior has been lowered to the legal standard of "consent," which is a very low moral bar. A man can be a "jerk" or behave in an "ungentlemanly" way without breaking the law, yet we no longer have the vocabulary to condemn that behavior without resorting to criminal terminology. We have traded a rich moral framework for a cold, legalistic one that leaves both sexes feeling isolated and defensive. Intersexual competition and the beauty industry cartel The normalization of cosmetic surgery and the rise of **body positivity** are often misunderstood as being about men's desires. In reality, they are driven by intersexual competition between women. The beauty industry thrives on technological innovation, creating a "ratcheting effect" where things like Botox, fillers, and professional manicures become the new minimum bar for being considered well-groomed. This is an unspoken cartel; if you don't participate, you look "worse" relative to your peer group, even if men don't consciously notice the difference between expensive and cheap nail polish. Similarly, the "rivalry theory" of body positivity suggests that women may support other women gaining weight because it removes them from the competitive dating pool. Perry cites a study where women high in intersexual competitiveness advised "mating threats" to cut off more hair at a salon to sabotage their attractiveness. Female status games are subtle and often involve "luxury beliefs" that sound empathetic but produce negative outcomes for those who lack the resources to navigate them. Ultimately, whether it is fashion, surgery, or social media selfies, women are often performing for a female audience to signal status and mate investment, while men remain largely oblivious to the nuances of the display.