Is there a need to place birth control under some control?
Is there a need to place birth control under some control?
Joyeeta Dutta Ray, Jakarta
Indonesia has attempted to control its population growth
through some novel methods. The latest more mainstream idea is
condom dispensing machines. While it is a step to applaud, it
also made me wonder. Would the effort really help resolve the
issue or just create new ones?
Imagine a youth with raging hormones sprinting across the lush
green fields of Java, kite in hand, and bumping headlong into a
condom-dispensing machine. What would it lure him to do? Stop him
having babies or start him having sex?
The efforts of the government reminded me of the numerous
campaigns adopted by my own country, India. The goal has been the
same -- to control a population multiplying by the minute. The
roads are, interestingly, different.
In the late 1970s, birth control advertisements were splashed
all over the billboards of our country. "We are two, let's have
two", screamed captions above black and white, deliriously
grinning stick figures of four-member families. Well and good,
except that one couldn't help but observe that nowhere did the
graphics show two children of the same sex. The family was always
perfectly balanced with a son and a daughter.
People looked up, read the words and went home to have more
babies. Until the family resembled the one on the billboard,
perfectly balanced with sons and daughters -- never mind that the
number of children exceeded the ones displayed -- people tried
their luck. The government threw up its hands in resignation.
In the 1980s, the Hindi Bollywood film industry indirectly
championed the happiness of a small family. Bollywood films
screened noble parents opting for not more than two kids. There
were several versions of this fact.
Twins separated at birth, poor but heroic older brothers with
villainous siblings romancing the only, lonely daughter of city
slickers. Triplets, quadruplets and families of more than two
were strictly ignored, unless they were shown suffering in the
depths of poverty, gloom and doom. Girls hailing from small
families were pampered and pretty. Men, educated and successful.
It worked somewhat. The smart, middle-class people got the
point, went home and stopped multiplying mindlessly. The poor and
uneducated grossly missed the point and went home to try their
luck on romancing only, lonely daughters of city slickers. Eve
teasing and rape registered an alarming increase. By the 1990s,
the population of India passed the 900 million mark. The
government was at its wit's end.
The advertising industry then decided to take matters into
their cuff-linked hands. After extensive market research, they
identified the root of the problem. It was not just a desire for
male children or a perfectly balanced family with sons and
daughters or the widespread rape and molestation that existed in
society but, to get down to basics, a simple lack of protection.
Men preferred pleasure to condoms and disregarded them.
Stick figures of parents with two children on billboards were
erased and replaced by real-life photos of sultry, unmarried, 20-
somethings in the throes of passion, flaunting condoms of all
textures, colors and flavors. The laws of theKamasutra were for
the world to see.
The masses finally sat up and took notice. Sales of condoms
skyrocketed. Accidents -- resulting from distracted drivers
concentrating on billboards rather than roads -- escalated
alongside. Unfortunately, accidents from malfunctioning condoms
were also reported, usually too late. In the year 2000, the
population of India crossed the one billion mark.
"Catch them young. Educate them from the grass roots!" was the
verdict. The deed was done. Grade five kids were taught the
importance of sex education and the difficulties stemming from
large families.
Today, children are wiser, bolder and date younger. The
population continues to grow at an alarming rate. The government
remains puzzled.
Where have we gone wrong? Are we genetically just more fertile
than the rest of the world?
Controlling the population of a country of millions is truly a
daunting task. In countries where democracy is the call of the
day, it is twice as difficult. Orders cannot be imposed. Only
requests made. In 1977, the Congress government under prime
minister Indira Gandhi attempted to enforce strict family
planning measures including the promotion of vasectomies. It was
a grave mistake. That year, the opposition party won by a
landslide victory. The birth rate remained untoppled.
While the government needs to be applauded for all attempts it
makes, it is also important to identify the root of the issue and
take things from there.
In male-dominated societies such as India and Indonesia, some
of the ruling issues are the desire to have a male child to carry
on the family name and to produce several children so that they
may support their aging parents later. Therein lies the problem.
The government needs to realize that while condoms can offer
some relief, they only address part of the problem. Before
condoms are distributed, the inequality between the sexes needs
to be addressed. Only when men start respecting women will
couples be happy with the sex of their babies and stop yearning
for more. If the family is small, it spells better education for
the child and consequently, better work prospects in the long
run.
Women have come into their own today. They earn for the
family, manage the house, give birth and raise kids, care for
aging family members, and most importantly, do everything without
thrashing anyone in the process. It's time society recognized the
powers of the gentler sex.
A condom dispenser is well and good. How about pill-vending
machine or condoms for women next?
The writer is a freelance writer.