'Men Too': Masculinities and Contraceptive Politics in Late Twentieth Century Britain

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 1984, the Family Planning Association (FPA) launched its year-long ‘Men Too’ campaign to encourage greater male involvement in family planning and personal relationships. The campaign represented a wider shift towards promoting ‘male involvement’ in contraception by the 1980s. Taking ‘Men Too’ as it’s starting point, this article explores the interrelationship between contraceptive politics and wider debates about masculinity, heterosexual relations and emotion in late twentieth century Britain. Popular uptake of the oral contraceptive pill had transformed contraceptive responsibility, shifting it from men to women from the 1970s, particularly amongst the young. The result was a new sexual subject in sharp contrast to the early twentieth century: the uninvolved male contraceptor. Thus, ‘Men Too’ was tackling a generationally-specific problem that became visible in the 1980s, produced by the conjectural forces of technology (the Pill) and ideology (‘second-wave’ feminism). The campaign reimagined masculinity by idealising emotional expression and a new contraceptive politics framed around the buzzword of ‘shared responsibility’. In turn, ‘Men Too’ exemplified the emergence of new emotional intimacies that framed a larger shift in the character of heterosexual relationships. In addition, ‘Men Too’ is considered as part of the wider emotional culture of late twentieth century Britain.