Contraception in fantasy

J. R. Tomlin · Oct 31, 2007

Ok, this is an odd question, but I've seen a lot of people complain that no one ever mentions the necessity for contraception for sexually active female MCs. (Well, I know one writer to alluded to it.) What I think we have forgotten is that until fairly recently contraception was a male responsibility (which may be why it failed so frequently but that's another subject.)

Condoms existed from ancient times and withdrawal has always been possible. But is it really necessary to allude to this subject? Or just let the reader assume that they're smart enough to do something about not getting the woman preggers?

I'm also doing my usual wrestling with how explicit to be, but that's another subject.

veinglory · Oct 31, 2007

I will assume that if there is sex and no mention of contraception, pregnancy is possible. I see authors use magic, gods, barreness, waxy threads and mysterious berries in place of the pill. Strangely condoms and withdrawal, not so much?

Marlys · Oct 31, 2007

Actually, I'm going to disagree with you here. Contraception was a woman's worry--condoms were primarily used in the earlier days to prevent venereal disease. Women used herbs to bring on their periods or to abort unwanted fetuses (which was not usually considered a sin before "quickening"), they used sponges (frequently soaked in vinegar) or various types of pessaries to block the opening to the cervix: honey, wax, oil, crocodile dung(!). As today, oral and anal sex were also used to avoid pregnancy.

If your female character is fertile and sexually active, I think some passing mention of contraception would be enough. And hey, since it's fantasy, you can invent an herb or spell that works every time.

waylander · Oct 31, 2007

There's always good old Vatican roulette (aka The Rhythmn Method) for those with regular cycles

badducky · Oct 31, 2007

Abortion has been around in one for or another since the dawn of human history. Condoms by any other name were also quite common.

Other then that, poke around a little more and you'll find all kinds of interesting things.

I don't want to post exact links, because I don't have my spreadsheet on this computer, but google is definitely your friend on this one.

Be explicit without being erotic. Realism is the best way.

mscelina · Oct 31, 2007

actually, my female MC does bring up contraception in my book. She actually takes an herbal mixture for it (the idea for which came from jean Auel's brilliant Clan of the Cave bear series)

even more realistically--it fails. There are many contraceptive methods mentioned in older lieterature (French letters were a 18th century(?) form of condom--made from sheep intestines I believe) et cetera and so forth.

veinglory · Oct 31, 2007

Even at the age I was (9, 10?) I remember thinking Auel's mysterious berries were a bit implausible. But that was more speculative hsitory than fantasy. Fantasy berries might modulate hormones in a way real berries can't....

Zelenka · Oct 31, 2007

There are actually a few books about on the history of contraception, which might give you some ideas. I'm not sure how readily available these are but Amazon or your local library might be able to get them.

An Illustrated History of Contraception: a concise account of the quest for fertility control by William H Robertson
A History of Contraception; from antiquity to the present day by Angus McLaren
Eve's Herbs: a history of contraception and abortion in the West by John M Riddle.

mscelina · Oct 31, 2007

I'm not sure. She researched so much and so thoroughly I kind of have to give it a little bit of credit. I might see if I can track down that mysterious plant with the golden thread.

Shweta · Oct 31, 2007

Two lovely examples IMO: the Liavek books, which use worrynot tea, and Jo Walton's The King's Peace, where you get rid of unwanted fetuses by telling the little spirit it should move on, there's no home for it here. I love them both because the method of contraception is used to reveal both world (and magic type) and character.

Zelenka · Oct 31, 2007

Oh, actually, I just found one of these books and one thing that's mentioned is Queen Anne's Lace or wild carrot. Apparently there are a lot of traditions amongst Native Americans that the seeds of that plant can prevent pregnancy, one source says to chew the seeds, and according to this book they did a study on mice and it did actually reduce the occurrence of pregnancy. (This is from the John Riddle book)

Marlys · Oct 31, 2007

mscelina said:
There are many contraceptive methods mentioned in older literature (French letters were a 18th century(?) form of condom--made from sheep intestines I believe) et cetera and so forth.

"French letter" isn't recorded until 1856. The old-timey, exotic 18th-century term for condom was...condom (also spelled condum, cundum). But you're right--they were made from intestines, and had to be soaked before use to make them pliable. For what it's worth, the earliest absolute proof of condom use dates to the 1640s--examples have been recovered archaeologically from English Civil War-era privies.

There was a discussion over at Romantic Times that includes a bunch of references to add to Jess's list. Someone there also confirms that her grandmother, a midwife, used to collect Queen Anne's Lace as a contraceptive.

Zelenka · Oct 31, 2007

Marlys said:
"French letter" isn't recorded until 1856. The old-timey, exotic 18th-century term for condom was...condom (also spelled condum, cundum). But you're right--they were made from intestines, and had to be soaked before use to make them pliable. For what it's worth, the earliest absolute proof of condom use dates to the 1640s--examples have been recovered archaeologically from English Civil War-era privies.

There was a discussion over at Romantic Times that includes a bunch of references to add to Jess's list. Someone there also confirms that her grandmother, a midwife, used to collect Queen Anne's Lace as a contraceptive.

It's a really fascinating subject - I just found one of those books available as an e-book through my library and there is a lot of information on the legal side of it as well, which is really interesting, a lot of texts from Roman Law and such. I'm almost tempted to do it for my dissertation for Legal History, only my lecturer is a bit strange and I can just imagine his face if I had to propose the topic.

J. R. Tomlin · Oct 31, 2007

Marlys said:
Actually, I'm going to disagree with you here. Contraception was a woman's worry--condoms were primarily used in the earlier days to prevent venereal disease. Women used herbs to bring on their periods or to abort unwanted fetuses (which was not usually considered a sin before "quickening"), they used sponges (frequently soaked in vinegar) or various types of pessaries to block the opening to the cervix: honey, wax, oil, crocodile dung(!). As today, oral and anal sex were also used to avoid pregnancy.

If your female character is fertile and sexually active, I think some passing mention of contraception would be enough. And hey, since it's fantasy, you can invent an herb or spell that works every time.

Well, I will disagree back at you.

I don't know any way on earth a woman can be responsible for coitus interruptus or anal sex and generally requires cooperation in replacing vaginal sex with oral. I don't think it could be said to be something a woman could be responsible for although of course she could either demand or encourage it.

Incidentally, my reading indicates that it was learned quite early that condoms prevented pregnancy in addition to being used for disease prevention.

Coitus interruptus was the means probably most widely used in a historical context judging by mentions in widely diverse writings.

Women who gave herbs to bring on an abortion were highly likely to end up burned at the stake as a witch in the real world--which wouldn't be a problem in a fantasy but bad worldbuilding would be. Honey and that nonsense didn't work although pessaries made of dung surprisingly enough may have had some effect since they were alkaline, but hardly something I'm going to put in a novel nor is my world primitive enough for that to be believable.

Condoms and withdrawal did work at least a good part of the time.

No, I would never just put in any old spell that will work every time. The magic in my novel is elemental based not alchemical or herbal magic. It would be totally out of place and be inconsistent which is a serious fault in a fantasy. As Shweta pointed out, the method used should be consistent with the world and the magic type, not just randomly tacked on.

I have decided to go with condoms, a passing reference should do. I wish I had Veinglory's way with sex scenes though.

Edit: I agree, Veinglory. I thought the whole "berry" thing in Auel's books was quite implausible.

Higgins · Nov 1, 2007

badducky said:
Abortion has been around in one for or another since the dawn of human history. Condoms by any other name were also quite common.

Other then that, poke around a little more and you'll find all kinds of interesting things.

I don't want to post exact links, because I don't have my spreadsheet on this computer, but google is definitely your friend on this one.

Be explicit without being erotic. Realism is the best way.

And there's infanticide. People think abortion is the more worrisome method of getting rid of unwanted children, but infanticide or selling them or giving them to a monastery or nunnery or other religious society were other ways of "contraception" that were common.

Azraelsbane · Nov 1, 2007

One of my characters grows up in a "house of ill repute" and the women use a type of poison that works as a morning after pill. As far as my MCs go, one of the males my female MC is involved with is sterile, so it's not an issue. She ends up pregnant from guy MC #2 twice, but she's pretty good at keeping up with her cycles otherwise since she's a med school grad from the 21st century.

In the end figuring out your ovulation sched is one of the best ways anyway, unless the guy has super sperm that lasts like 10+ days, but I believe the longest it has ever been known to last is 6, in optimal conditions. Obviously if the female MC has wacky period schedules, it would be thrown off, but unless it's specifically stated otherwise, I'd guess she was regular within 2-3 days.

Vomaxx · Nov 1, 2007

I faced this situation in the workings of the brothel attached to a mercenary regiment, in a society where abortion is regarded as a great crime (and carries the death penalty). The mages have come up with a contraceptive salve, which, properly used, will usually prevent pregnancy. (Learning about it is a shock to my MC, a well-brought-up young woman who cannot imagine any decent unmarried person having the nerve to go to a shop to buy any.) When it doesn't work, the resulting "accident" is cared for by the regiment.

zornhau · Nov 1, 2007

Olive Oil...

...I believe was the ancient um... topical contraceptive. IIRC Mary Stopes reckoned it was 99% effective.

The Greek Magical Papyri list some, including a crocodile dung pessary (!).

Since it's fantasy, you can just make up some handy spell or cantrip, but remember it will determine the role of women.

Oh, and more bibliography: "Sex in History" by Reay Tannahill (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0349104867/?tag=absolutewritedm-20)

yanallefish · Nov 1, 2007

Sex?? You mean I can write about sex?? Wow... *G*

Seriously, I think the idea of the berries was a little off the wall and did at the time too -- though maybe it depends on the kind. I love the one about talking to the little spirit, though! (then again, I've been on a fantasy writing kick for some time).

Or, then there's just plain old abstinence - lol, in this case, I rarely if ever write about my characters doin' the nasty!

Ravenlocks · Nov 1, 2007

zornhau said:
but remember it will determine the role of women.

That seems kinda broad and seems to be implying that women are nothing more than walking uteruses (uteri?). I really can't believe that a contraceptive will determine the entire role of women, especially since, as noted above many times, women have been using them for thousands of years. Society is what determines the role of women.

But maybe I'm just a child of the modern era who's used to being in control despite being female.

maxmordon · Nov 1, 2007

What about do what Onan did? (Aka, try not to finish inside)

AnnieColleen · Nov 1, 2007

Azraelsbane said:
In the end figuring out your ovulation sched is one of the best ways anyway, unless the guy has super sperm that lasts like 10+ days, but I believe the longest it has ever been known to last is 6, in optimal conditions. Obviously if the female MC has wacky period schedules, it would be thrown off, but unless it's specifically stated otherwise, I'd guess she was regular within 2-3 days.

And even with wacky cycles there are signs that can indicate fertility or not. Having a thermometer handy might/might not work depending on the technology level available, and it might not be advisable to go into detail on other indicators (cervical mucus, etc.), but depending how the world is built, it's entirely possible for a character to know when she's fertile or not.

veinglory · Nov 1, 2007

The berries struck me as unconvincing because unless they affect hormones directly the only plausible mechanism (as with mercery and other suggested contraceptions) is simply to make a person too sick fo conceive easily.

Shweta · Nov 1, 2007

Ravenlocks said:
That seems kinda broad and seems to be implying that women are nothing more than walking uteruses (uteri?). I really can't believe that a contraceptive will determine the entire role of women, especially since, as noted above many times, women have been using them for thousands of years. Society is what determines the role of women.

Perhaps not, but it has a huge role. Think about how much of a toll being constantly pregnant (from a young age) takes on a woman; that and child-rearing in huge families would leave most women without much energy for anything else.

And, the extent to which women had (have) contraception available is directly tied to how much control we have of our bodies, which is in part a social role.

There's also education, the effect of the level of technology on housework, and many other factors that affect the societal ones and the role of women in the society -- but these are in turn affected by how much time daughters had to be educated in anything other than practical skills, and that's related to family size, etc, I think.

We don't have to go historical for this. Just cross-cultural. The role of women and our control over our bodies -- these things are really tightly tied, cross-culturally.

Stacia Kane · Nov 2, 2007

Shweta said:
And, the extent to which women had (have) contraception available is directly tied to how much control we have of our bodies, which is in part a social role.

But it's also heavily related to technology available at the time. Before the invention of latex, there were no latex condoms, no diaphragms. That had very little to do with Teh Patriarchy and very much to do with science and its limitations. Before hormones were "discovered" and much studying was done, hormonal birth control could not be invented.

My UF hero tells the heroine before they hop into bed that he can't impregnate her and can't carry or pass on human diseases, but offers to wear a condom anyway if she wants. Because he's AWESOME like that.

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