“Astronauts in the Sperm World”

Abstract

Since the 1960s, the predominance of modern contraceptive drugs for women has disciplined men and women to delegate responsibilities for contraception largely to women. Consequently, contraceptive use came to be excluded from hegemonic masculinity. The weak alignment of contraceptive technologies and hegemonic masculinities constitutes a major barrier for technological innovation in contraceptives for men. Based on an analysis of two large-scale clinical trials of hormonal contraceptives for men organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the article shows how the development of new contraceptives for men requires a renegotiation of masculine identities. Technological innovation in contraceptive technology is, thus, not only a story about the making of a new technology, it is also a story about constructing masculine identities.