What do the men think about this?

Question

With all the unwanted pregnancies, men’s complaints about unfair reproductive rights, child support and custody battles, do we really need special products to enhance male sexual performance? I’m not talking about a prescription for Viagra to a patient with ED, I am talking about the OTC products advertised on radio and late-night TV for products that will enhance a man’s sexual experience. Isn’t it irresponsible to market these products without a disclosure statement promoting safe-sex practices?
Or can we women just take our unwanted babies to the manufacturers of these products and expect them to foot the bill?


Note: I know that women can use birth control too, and they should… but for the purpose of this discussion, please keep the focus on either corporate or male responsibility. Thanks in advance.

Levity, yes, I know...but you gotta have a moral dilemma to get hits on a question!

OK guys, the product is for pleasure, but the consequences of that pleasure CAN BE pregnancy.

Do we assume that people think before they act? Or do you think the company has a social responsibility to inform consumers of the risk of pregnancy as a result of use of its product?

Astaroth - If you think about in the context of your “responsibilities of sleeping around” question (which was part of the inspiration for this Q, I might add)… it certainly CAN increase the chances of pregnancy.
More partners = greater chance of someone ending up pregnant.

Answer 1

Guys just like to know that they can still take on the entire feminine population should that occasion arise pun intended. Most men are pretty responsible when it comes to being cautious at least the ones that I know. I can see your point though, encouraging men to spread their wild oats is not conducive to good birth control methods.

Answer 2

I am honored that you ask us to think...Originally the male enhancements and stimulants were for sexually dysfunctional men..but now it seems every Tom Dick(no pun intended) and harry can get them no matter what...of course it doesn't help when some women expect miracles with us. Hell we're only human.
Birth control is the responsibility of both people not one or the other.
But your right there should be some sort of warning, as it may be, to let people know that pregnancy can happen even with the best of the controls out there.

Answer 3

For starters, men's complaints about "unfair" reproductive rights and child support and custody laws are downright garbage. Any man who thinks that he is man enough to stick it inside her should be man enough to realize that he also has the right to pay for his fun for the next 18 years if anything happens. That said, birth control is a co-equal male and female responsibility. BOTH should sit down together, learn every form of birth control, find out the effectiveness rating of each, learn the side effects of each, and agree upon which form of birth control (or which combination) seems best to them. Having agreed upon a foprm of birth control and learned its failure rating, they should be mature enough to accept that there is still some possibility of pregnancy of pregnancy and have some plan in place for that possibility. There is a reason why men do not have the legal right to decide whether or not to abort their children: because men do not get pregnant. If a man does not want his children aborted, he can substantially reduce the risk of this happening by actually getting married: it has been shown that married women are far less likely to have abortions. That is not unfair.

That said, I don't think that unwanted babies should be laid at the doorstep of male enhancement products companies. Unwanted babies are the responsibility of the men and women who make them.

Answer 4

even though you want to keep this to the men's side only, you have to respect that it does take two to have a baby, so there is some responsibility that women have to take.

That said, the reason these products are on the market is because there are people who want them. Why they want them, or their morals when it comes to sex and possible pregnancies isn't even relavent. The point is, they sell, so they're on the market.

It's not the manufacturer's responsibility to tell people to practice safe sex any more than it should be a cigarrette manufacturer's or a brewery's to disclose the potential harm of their products. That cigarrette and beer companies to provide those statements is a legal matter, but morally, they shouldn't be held responsible for people who can't control themselves

Answer 5

I think that men should start being men, and pardon the pun, but if they are willing to put it in they should be willing to pay it in full (aka marriage). What if that woman doesn't want to get married even though the guy does, what if she justs wants the child support? My heart would be crushed. Birth controls are dangerous by the way (cause Vitamin B-6 to be lost)

Answer 6

It's a play on a man's ego. When they first came out with Extra Large condoms, I doubt they had trouble selling. I see a guy at the counter asking for a pack of condoms and the teller asks what size?. Um, extra large of course. What your asking about has nothing to do with responsibility. A company will look for a way to make big bucks fast. Not that I need to enlarge it, but just out of curiosity. . .

Answer 7

Often times, men consider sex somewhat to get their arousal out of whatever they'd just seen i.e. porn, pictures. THEY often do not think of "pregnancy" as we women do. I believe that its not the OTC products being advertised but its more of the fact that MEN needs to learn to take responsibility for their actions. A men needs to learn to accept the consequences for he's actions. OTC products are just there to help enhance a man's performance and nothing else, but it is up to the couple to have a clear understanding of each other's decision to have sex. Both parties must have a mutual agreement that IF such unwanted pregnancy arise, what will they do? Will they "ABORT" or give it up for "ADOPTION". Men can complain all they want about unfair reproductive rights, support and custody battles but if they don't "talk" to their "partners" prior to having sex, then they shouldn't complain and whine about having their significant other pregnant!

Answer 8

We are all adults here, or at least, SHOULD be when it comes to sexual experiences. We are responsible for our own decisions and our own actions. The fact is, enhancement products or no, we should practice safe sex and be more responsible with our sexual activities. Both, the woman AND the man, are equally responsible for this. If the woman gets pregnant, it is both, the woman AND the man, who are at fault. Is it irresponsible for these companies to not promote safe sex? Perhaps, but it is not like we don't have safe sex shoved down our throat from the moment we start watching television and going to school. We all know better. I think blaming sex aid companies is pretty weak. Ultimately, these sex products don't have anything to do with unwanted pregnancies at all. Our irresponsible actions do.

Answer 9

sex makes babies?!
zOMGWTFPWNBBQ!!!!!!!!111111oneoneone

what i think is interesting is the choice of disclaimers that sexual enhancement products make in their advertising. for men's enhancement products, the warnings are about things like stroke, blood clots, side effects, combination with alcohol, blood pressure, and so on.

with women's hormonal based birth control such as seasonale, ortho-evra, and others, the disclaimer in the advertising mentions the same kinds of things, but also says that it is NOT a preventative measure for AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

but in order to be fair, these are two different products, neither of which prevent AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. maybe on the actual packages and the small print, it has more disclaimers about safer sex practices.

it was mentioned that tobacco and alcohol products have disclaimers on them. sex doesn't always have health risks, but the risks of damage from alcohol and tobacco are very real and definite. we didn't always know that cigarettes caused lung cancer. but i think we have always known about the effects of sex. before smoking and drinking was even invented, there was sex. the question then becomes, whose responsibility to be the informant?

there's an old joke, that if guns kill people, then ...
Pencils miss spel words,
cars make people drive drunk,
and spoons make us fat.

Answer 10

This has absolutely nothing to do with unwanted pregnancies and whatnot. It has to do with increasing pleasure. Everyone knows (or should know) to use a condom, etc. If you get pregnant, it's you and the guy's fault just like in any scenario. Don't try to blame a pleasure making company because you didn't use any form of birth control.

EDIT
Whether the man uses the product or not is irrelevant: pregnancy can still occur. The product does not increase the chances of pregnancy, if it did, they should have a warning.