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.
聞いてください 現役女子高生 ピル飲んでます
偏見をなくしたいです
この間、保健の授業で先生が「皆さんの中で飲んでる人はいないと思うけど」と言っていて悲しくなりました
その教育遅れてません?
ピルは「避妊」目的だけじゃありません
教師が進んで生理が辛い女の子の肩身狭めないで pic.twitter.com/XGQsyvRwXy— さき (@75cW0Bj6e1j08C6) May 15, 2019
聞いてください現役女子高生ピル飲んでます
偏見をなくしたいです
この間、保健の授業で先生が「皆さんの中で飲んでる人はいないと思うけど」と言っていて悲しくなりました
その教育遅れてません?
ピルは「避妊」目的だけじゃありません
教師が進んで生理が辛い女の子の肩身狭めないで
“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 Isn’t this education program outdated?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
Japanese | English | Romaji |
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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