Legalized in Japan only in 1999, birth control pills, 経口避妊薬(keikouhininyaku) or ピル (piru) in Japanese, just aren’t as popular here — and it’s easy to understand why.
Getting a prescription for the pill is not exactly the simplest pathway to protection. Why bother when condoms are practically sold in every one of Japan’s more than 50,000 convenience stores?
Even if a woman finds a doctor that agrees to prescribe the pill, the prescription will typically be only for one or two months at a time. On top of this, birth control pills cost around ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 a month and aren’t covered by national health insurance.
Just stop doing the deed, the ol’ hanky panky, the getting down and durrrty, I hear you cry! Well, even if abstinence were the best method of contraception (spoiler alert: it’s not), the pill actually has a host of other health benefits for many women — especially young females going through puberty.
Educate yourself
Birth control pills can also be prescribed to treat medical conditions, from acne to endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, cramps and other joyful symptoms dear Mother Nature blessed women with in addition to their reproductive organs.
So when her high school teacher announced during a health class that he believed no girls in the classroom could be on the pill, Twitter user @sasarin took her anger to the internet.
いてくださいピルんでます
をなくしたいです
この、のでが｢さんので飲んでるはいないとうけど｣とっていてしくなりました
そのれてません？
ピルは｢｣だけじゃありません
がんでがいののめないで
“Please listen to me, as I’d like to get rid of the prejudice against high schoolers that are on the pill. Recently, during our health class, the teacher said that he believes none of the students in our class were taking birth control pills. It made me sad. Isn’t this education program outdated? Birth control pills aren’t only for birth control. Stop trying to make girls with heavy periods feel ashamed (for taking the pill).”
Following this with a couple more tweets, Sasarin explained her disappointment seeing her teacher introducing the pill as a contraceptive method only, totally ignoring all the medical benefits and any other motivation a young girl might have for taking the pill.
Not that being sexually active should be judged either, she added.
Not only… but
Let’s play around with だけではない which translates to “not only” or “not only but.” In the tweet, we can see its longer casual version:
ピルは｢避妊｣目的だけじゃありません = the pill’s purpose isn’t only birth control
If you combine the first sentence with another sentence, ない (ありません)will become なくand then comes the “but”:
ピルの目的は｢避妊｣だけではなく、辛い生理もです:the pill isn’t only for birth control, but also for painful periods
- Verb (dictionary form) + だけではなく
- Noun + だけではなく
- I-adj + だけではなく
- Na-adj + なだけではなく
Vocabulary
聞く kiku hear, listen ください kudasai please (after a verb) 現役 geneki active, currently 女子高生 joshikousei high school girl ピル piru birth control pill 飲む nomu drink (also: take medicine) 偏見 henken bias, prejudice なくしたいです nakushitai desu want to make disappear この間 kono aida recently 保健 hoken health (education) 授業 jugyou class 先生 sensei teacher 皆さん minasan everyone 中で naka de among いる iru be 思う omou think けど kedo but 言う iu say, tell 悲しい kanashii sad なる naru become 遅れる okureru be behind 避妊 hinin contraception 目的 mokuteki goal, purpose 教師 kyoushi teacher 進む susumu continue, proceed 生理 seiri period 辛い tsurai painful, hard 女の子 onna no ko girl(s) 肩身を狭める katami o sebameru to shame, to make someone feel ashamed
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