"Underground" et féministe, l'essor balbutiant de la contraception masculine

(AFP) - They wear "heated briefs", a ring around the testicles, or prefer a weekly bite: a few thousand men in France have made the innovative choice of male contraception, a trend praised in feminist circles, delightedthat men also take their share of this "mental charge".

Hormonal or "thermal", this type of contraception remains little practiced and still comes up against a "societal obstacle", notes Guillaume Daudin, co-author of a book-investigation on the subject, "Les Contracts" (Steinkis editions),In bookstores on October 14.

"For many men, infringing their fertility is still perceived as a questioning of their virility," observes this journalist with 34-year-old AFP, who for a year has held up in the camp "aLittle underground "of" contraceptive men ".

The phenomenon has however been sharply increased in recent years, reveals its investigation, carried out with his colleague Stéphane Jourdain and transcribed in comics by the designer Caroline Lee.

"There is a real request.Mainly men who say they want to share the contraceptive charge, "confirms Maxime Labrit, who in two years has manufactured and marketed, from home near Bordeaux, some 10.000 silicone rings to place around the purses and the base of the penis.

Worn all day (but not at night), the ring leads to a rise in testicles out of the scrotum.Usually 2 to 4 degrees colder than the rest of the body, the sexual glands thus "warmed" no longer produce sperm.After three months of daily use, man becomes infertile, a reversible process when we stop wearing the ring, says his designer.

- "sewing workshops" -

This "thermal" method can also be practiced using an underwear that goes up the testicles-and that men sometimes make themselves, during "Couture workshops".

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It is presented as effective and without side effects in a study published on the site of the French Association of Urology.But, for lack of large -scale study, has not been validated by the health authorities: since it "claims contraceptive action", the ring "is considered a medical device" and should therefore "have aCE marking, which he does not have to date, "a spokesperson for the National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) told AFP to AFP (ANSM).

The agency specifies being "in contact" with the company manufacturing this product to "support it in its compliance procedures".

The promoters of the method, however, fear a possible ban.However, "a relevant response does not consist in prohibiting a device, but in supporting the developments of a company", argued in a tribune recently published by Liberation, several associations, including the family planning.

They believe that the government should further support research on this subject, but also promote vasectomy, a method of quasi-define contraception very common in the United States but marginal in France.

In early September, the government announced free contraception...For women under the age of 25."It's very good, but why we do not put additional means in research on male contraception?" Asks Marylie Breuil, of the collective "We all".

It is "one of the next stages towards more gender equality", judges this feminist activist.Because "currently, it is the woman who goes to the doctor, pays, takes contraception, puts an alarm on her phone so as not to forget.And man has nothing to do.Sometimes he barely knows how it works ".

Free for young women was a "very clear priority" for the government, since "today the financial weight of contraception is based above all on women," replied AFP the Minister of Health, Olivier Olivier Olivier Olivier Olivier Olivier Olivier Olivier OlivierVéran, in a statement transmitted by his cabinet."I see it as a first step," added Mr..Véran, for whom "the broader question of male contraception must make its way in our society", because "there is no reason that the weight of these questions always rests on the same member of the couple".

For many women, however, it is difficult to imagine completely retroceiving this charge to their partner: some would be too "afraid of losing control of their body", for which the feminist movement has long fought, observes Ms. Breuil.