A Feminist Guide To Going Off The Pill
This online workshop hosted by the author of “Sweetening the Pill,” Holly Grigg-Spall, is designed to support a critical investigation of the cultural mythology of hormonal birth control and to help you “unsweeten” the pill, for yourself and others. Holly aims to bring a feminist perspective and sense of the collective to the personal choice to stop using the birth control pill (or any hormonal birth control method). This workshop will provide you with the tools you need to make the change. (Recorded live in early 2019 for a one-off audience)
“Rejecting hormonal contraceptives is, in our culture, a necessarily political act, but it is up to us to decide what we create from that point.” – Sweetening the Pill
What we’ll discuss:
- the pill’s part in our feminist history
- common pill myths and misinformation
- the lies we’ve believed about our bodies
- the social and relational challenges to going off hormonal birth control such as fear of pregnancy and relationship anxiety
- reframing those challenges and resisting the status quo
- body reconnection as a feminist experience
- the roles male partners can play in this conversation
- confronting healthcare gaslighting
- the issue of partner and peer pressure
- being a feminist off the pill
- non-hormonal alternatives for pregnancy prevention
- fertility awareness and body literacy
- why fertility awareness needs feminism and feminism needs fertility awareness
This workshop is for:
- anyone still on hormonal birth control and thinking about going off
- anyone who went off hormonal birth control in the recent or distant past and is still struggling
- anyone who supports other women who are going off the pill
Workshop format:
- 4 online webinars recorded live in early 2019
- Each session includes accompanying materials emailed direct to you including discussion points, guidance, reading lists, and resource shares.
What makes this different:
- I’m not trying to sell you supplements.
- I know we need to overthrow the capitalist patriarchy, but until then I believe this workshop can help.
- I don’t think going off the pill should be framed as a just another path to a self-improvement or even just another way to wellness.
- I believe in the importance of collective action and less of a focus on the isolated individual managing their own body.