S1 E7. Woman and Birth Control: Dr Krystale Littlejohn, Just Get on the Pill

In this episode, I talk with Associate Professor of Sociology Dr Kystale Littlejohn about her book, Just Get on the Pill. A keenly researched and incisive examination, Dr Littlejohn investigates how birth control became a fundamentally unbalanced and gendered responsibility. Though it takes two people to make a pregnancy, prevention is seen almost entirely as a woman’s responsibility. In Just Get On The Pill, Dr Littlejohn breaks this down, unpacking how this gendered approach encroaches on reproductive and bodily autonomy and poses obstacles for preventing disease.  Some topics of discussion include: Society’s ideas about gender, the phenomenon of ‘gendered compulsory birth control’ and the need to see pregnancy prevention as yet another form of domestic labor The importance of language, and the problem with words like male and female condoms, and also ‘stealthing’... which should really just be called sexual assault How poor women are blamed for causing unintended pregnancies instead of recognising that poverty is a reason people might label their pregnancies as undesired in the first place How gendering birth control alienates trans, intersex and gender nonconforming people What a more liberating approach to birth control looks like And more! Powered by The Trouble Club: use the code STORY25 to get 25% off all Trouble ticket sales and membership payments  The quotes you will hear read during the interview are taken directly from the book, Just Get on the Pill. Transcription is available here Buy the book: US | UK  Mentioned in the episode: Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Killing the Black Body - Dorothy Roberts Sexual Justice - Alexandra Brodsky -- Become a Patron for access to bonus content and to support the podcast, or buy me a (metaphorical) coffee Follow along: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Tik Tok | Youtube | LinkedIn Subscribe to the newsletter Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - and be sure to rate and review to help other people find us! Explore The Story of Woman book recommendations in the US and the UK - purchases support the podcast AND local bookstores 🤩 www.thestoryofwomanpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

They say it’s a man’s world... so what does that mean for the rest of us? This podcast is on a mission to find out.  The consequences of woman's exclusion from our world are so deeply embedded that they are all but impossible to see... unless you are looking. Featuring interviews with those who explore our world through the female gaze, The Story of Woman looks at everything from the economy, healthcare, gender roles, and more. Each episode dives deep into where we are, how we got here, and what still needs to be changed in order to (finally) rewrite the story of mankind to become the story of humankind. To us, ‘woman’ means all those who presently identify as such - regardless of which body they were born with. This includes other marginalized genders such as those who identify as non-binary, gender fluid, or anywhere else on the spectrum of gender.