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celichoc's review against another edition
5.0
In the 1960s birth control pills came onto the scene, allowing women to take control of their fertility and, by extension, their lives. The unintended effects of dumping untargeted hormones into our bodies haven’t been shared in a way widely accessible to the public, until now! In This is Your Brain on the Pill evolutionary psychologists Sarah Hill dives deep into the biological, psychological, and sociological effects of birth control pills*. Her goal isn’t to idolize or demonize the pill, just to inform the reader on all of its potential effects. Hill doesn’t hold back, describing effects from a handicapped stress response to changes in mate preference to changes in women’s career trajectories. Most importantly, she emphasizes how much we do not know. Researchers still haven’t pinpointed how women’s bodies work and while birth control pills have been subjected to rigorous clinical trials (Hill repeats throughout the book that they ARE safe to use), research on their long-term effects is still in progress. Complicating studies is the fact that every woman’s body chemistry is different. No two women respond to the same pill in the same way. The potential risks of one treatment don’t apply to everyone. As Hill insists “it’s time for all of us to join together and to ask science for some new choices and for more information about what happens to us with the choices we have” (p. 249).
This book is a great starting point to educate yourself on this issue. At only 250 pages (including several charts and graphs) it’s a quick read and worth the time of any girl or woman in or near entering the fertile stage of their life.
*The focus of the book is the PILL, not other hormonal birth control options like IUDs, NuvaRing, etc., so if you’re curious about those, look elsewhere
This book is a great starting point to educate yourself on this issue. At only 250 pages (including several charts and graphs) it’s a quick read and worth the time of any girl or woman in or near entering the fertile stage of their life.
*The focus of the book is the PILL, not other hormonal birth control options like IUDs, NuvaRing, etc., so if you’re curious about those, look elsewhere
erinjp123's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting and terrifying. A little pill heavy, I would be interested in how other forms of BC affect the body. Thank a woman you know whos on BC cause you hate condoms for doing that cause hooooboy thats some scary stuff.
craftyscene's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.25
The author: “Let me tell you why birth control is the worst and will mess you up in permanent ways!”
The author: “I’d never suggest we get rid of birth control.”
Hill is an evolutionary psychologist, and she definitely leans into a heteronormative scope. There’s lots of information about hormones and the brain, but most of it seems to be correlation and not causation. Hill also promotes a period tracking app that tracks data, as well as the copper IUD, which is known to cause heavy periods.
The biggest issue I have is that her stance is one from privilege. Some people on birth control benefit due to regular cycles, decreased negative symptoms, and a free pill to break the racist, socioeconomic, and/or misogynist environments in which they live.
The author: “I’d never suggest we get rid of birth control.”
Hill is an evolutionary psychologist, and she definitely leans into a heteronormative scope. There’s lots of information about hormones and the brain, but most of it seems to be correlation and not causation. Hill also promotes a period tracking app that tracks data, as well as the copper IUD, which is known to cause heavy periods.
The biggest issue I have is that her stance is one from privilege. Some people on birth control benefit due to regular cycles, decreased negative symptoms, and a free pill to break the racist, socioeconomic, and/or misogynist environments in which they live.