
Gettyimages.com/Woman looking at pregnancy test
Typically, any other time you hear that someone is going to “pull out”—maybe someone is pulling out of an investment or troops are pulling out of an occupied area—it’s because something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Maybe we should think about the pull out method in sex the same way, too. If you’re doing it, it’s because something is wrong aka you forgot a condom or realized you took your pill at the wrong time of day. It should be disaster protocol, not standard protocol. But really, using the pull out method because you forgot a condom still isn’t the greatest excuse to use this not-so-reliable form of birth control. It doesn’t really control much, does it? People are up in arms about other forms of birth control only having a 90-ish percent success rate and yet, they’re okay using this totally science-less pull out method? Here are reasons the pull out method is the worst form of birth control.
Few men have enough control
Very few men actually have the self-control to pull out on time. Everything about their anatomy and biology is telling them to stay in there. Most will try to stay in there until the last minute, which verges on too late. Their whole body is screaming at them to stay in there—that’s what they’re up against every time they use this method.
Any alcohol can ruin things
If anybody in this equation has a little alcohol, then you know things can go awry fast. Sensations are numbed. Inhibitions are silenced. Someone decides, “Just finish inside me!” while passions are running high.
It’s messy
I mean—right? Who is cleaning that up? Do you, as a woman, really want to do that awkward penguin dance to the bathroom to clean yourself up without dripping stuff on the floor? Or have to do laundry every time you do the deed?
Nobody really knows the timing
Couples who use the pull out method claim that they know the timing and the science of it but, they don’t. That’s why there are so many oops moments and a lot of apologizing and explaining of, “I thought you said this” and “I thought you weren’t ready to…” Communication skills aren’t exactly high mid-orgasm.
It’s playing with fire
You know that if you use this method every single time, there will be a few times for every hundred when your partner just doesn’t want to pull out. Would you use condoms if you knew for a fact they’d break a few times every hundred uses?
Few women can really track their cycle
A lot of women use the pull out method because they think they have mastered the art of tracking their cycle. In reality, it’s very hard to accurately track a cycle. We can come close to it but things like stress and weight fluctuations can throw it off.
There is pre-cum
Don’t forget about pre-cum. There has been a lot of debate about it but ultimately, yes, there is sperm in pre-cum and men have no control over when they release the stuff.
What if the woman is on top?
If a couple prefers woman-on-top positions then, they’re really playing with fire. It takes a lot more for a woman to hop off a man on time than for a man to pull out on time.
You are not a doctor
Couples using the pull out method are running around, acting as if they are doctors who have this thing down to a science. But they’re really all just guestimating and hoping and praying.
It has a 22 percent failure rate
Of 100 couples who use the pull out method every time as birth control, 22 will become pregnant. Whoops.
There are many other options
There are so many other options, even for couples who want to go condom-less. There are IUDs, several types of the pill, injections, diaphragms, and more.
Sometimes, someone is too loud
Sometimes, when passions are high, and everyone is grunting and moaning and have limbs twisted up, one person just doesn’t hear when the other says, “Get off I need to pull out!”
You’ll get cocky
The more couples do it successfully, the cockier they’ll get aka the sloppier they’ll get. You know it’s true.
It can be the most expensive
Some couples use the pull out method because it’s free birth control. But, it becomes very not free if it results in a baby, or the need to terminate a pregnancy.
It doesn’t prevent STDs
The pull out method does not prevent STDs at all. So unless you are 100 percent certain your partner is faithful and clean, you should not use it.