The Campaign for Museums and the 24 Hour Museum recently held a survey to commemorate Museums and Galleries Month. They asked a variety of people about the greatest and worst innovations and ideas of all time. While the wheel took the top spot, with the internet close behind, equal rights for women and the pill cracked the top five. Plus, two famous feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft and Emmeline Pankhurst, also were recognized as “People in History Responsible For the Best Ideas.” Hooray! We modern women sure have accomplished a lot—from the right to vote to the right to orgasm. Speaking of which, it’s National Masturbation Month, so be sure to congratulate yourself for all you’ve achieved! [Metro UK]

Accidents happen, even to good Catholics like the former-Prime Minister of the U.K.’s wife Cherie Blair.  Her hubby isn’t the only one getting political—in interviews and in her book, the longtime birth control advocate pushes for the Church to embrace contraception. But that’s not the only thing she’s been pushing… In her gossipy new autobiography, Speaking For Myself, she openly talks about her happy accident—their third child, Leo, who was the result of forgetting to pack birth control on a vacation. Whoopsies! She also reveals that she slept with Mr. Blair on their first date. Salacious! (And yet totally relatable.) While her critics are screaming TMI from her tell-all, we’d like to applaud her for telling it like it is and standing up for something millions of women depend on!  [Daily Mail]

Half of the American women who get pregnant each year hadn’t planned on it. Mostly, they either fail to use their contraceptive properly or forget to use it at all. Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute in New York say women who are the least motivated to avoid pregnancy are less likely to use birth control pills, or any contraceptive method, on a consistent method. Basically, they’re tempting fate. And many other women aren’t satisfied with their current method of contraception, so they forget to take their pills every day or keep condoms handy.

At first glance, Pam Stenzel seems like a pretty good sex educator. As Feministing pointed out, she’s got the cool, hip aunt vibe down pat, making her seem approachable to the average kid curious about sex and protection. Too bad she manages to slip in all sort of scary lies into her lectures, like the fact that “no one has ever had more than one partner and not paid”, girls develop anorexia and bulimia “because of an abortion they couldn’t take back”, and that birth control pills and shots make her “ten times more likely to contract a disease than if she were not taken those drugs, sterile, or dead.” We’re frightened for the audience of teens sitting in front of her, in rapt attention. [Feministing]

Every month, when my period arrives at 9am on the dot on (usually) the first Sunday of the month, I say a little silent thank you to the person who created Ortho-Tricycline Lo. Birth control, in all its many forms, is a wonderful thing. Which do you use?

Millions of years ago, humans could detect pheromones. We could “smell” each others’ genetic material through particular detectors that have since gone dormant now that we can see in color. It seems that this organ, called the vomeronasal organ, is no longer connected to the brain (does this mean those fragrances with pheromones are pointless?). However, some scientists say that we can pick up on pheromones through our normal sense of smell. But if scientists could find a way to reconnect the VNO, as it’s known, to the brain, you might have what you call a “sex sense” that would allow men to smell when women are ovulating and decide whether or not it’s the right time to have sex. In short, it would change your sex life, and could even be the most effective birth control method ever. [Mental Floss]

We could never figure out why Jamie Lynn Spears didn’t just go on birth control when she decided to start having sex. Yes, it’s totally possible that she was on the pill and didn’t take as directed—eight out of 100 women will get pregnant each year if they don’t follow the instructions—but a survey by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in Ireland found that first sex among adolescents was linked to low use of contraception (and high levels of regret). [The Press Association, U.K.]

Until you decide to settle down and start making babies, you’re probably doing whatever you can to prevent the formation of zygotes. If you’re in a serious, long-term relationship, this can be costly—a 24-pack of Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Condoms costs about $20, and, depending on factors like insurance and brand, a pack of birth control pills can cost between $5 and $50. Multiple that by 12 and you have enough to buy a pair of Christian Louboutins [Or two abortions! Kidding!—Editor]. Unlike the pill, condoms are something that either person can pick up at the drugstore, so sharing that cost is a no-brainer. But if your protection of choice is the pill, should your boyfriend contribute to the cause? We ask our friends—both male and female—whether it’s appropriate for the guy to pay for part of her prescription.

The Brazilian government inaugurated a factory yesterday that will use the rubber collected by hundreds of small time Brazilian “rubber tappers” to make, well, rubbers. [SIDE NOTE: I propose that anyone who uses condoms as his/her primary form of birth control should be called a “rubber tapper.”] The factory has the capacity to produce 100 million condoms a year, and by giving these rubber tappers a livelihood, the government is hoping the trees in the Chico Mendes forest reserve will be protected. [AHN]

A natural birth control method that involves keeping track of your cycle with a set of beads and abstaining from sex from day 8 to 19 was shown to be nearly as effective (when used properly) as the Pill and more effective than the diaphragm or condoms, according to a study of 1,646 women in six different countries. We’re kind of skeptical though, because there were 14.1 pregnancies for every 100 women per year in the study. The main reason the women got pregnant, the researchers found, was that couples knowingly took a risk and had sex on fertile days. Ya think? Being forbidden from having sex 11 days out of every month is probably one of the best aphrodisiacs out there. [Reuters]

Seasonique, the birth control pill that makes women menstruate only four times a year, is being marketed to men. Ads have appeared in laddie magazine Maxim, which is known for its frat-bro attitude and bikini clad spreads, and Spike TV, the channel dedicated to a Late Night Strip Poll. Apparently, the execs marketing Seasonique think guys who like those brands are getting laid, but they’re trying to stop them from spawning.  Those men—who are seemingly fascinated by a poop that can kill—are surprisingly grossed out by Aunt Flo coming to stay five days out of the month. Maybe that’s why Seasonique is hoping to get these men to talk to the women in their lives about using their form of birth control. Although the dudes may think they’re in some great hush-hush scheme to banish Aunt Flo, the joke is on them since the same ads are also running on Lifetime. Ha!  Ain’t nothing gonna cramp a ladies’ ability to choose her own birth control. Period! [Marie Claire]

After nine years at Brooklyn’s New York Methodist Hospital, OBGYN Josine Veca has seen it all. Here she gives The Frisky her diagnosis of what women want when they stop by.

What are common concerns for women when they come to see you?
It varies by age group. Younger patients, 30 and below, are usually concerned with STDs, birth control, or, if not, trying to prevent pregnancy. As the women get older and are approaching menopause, they’re worried about hot flashes, irregular periods, and symptoms that may be unusual. I’d estimate that 30 to 40 percent are concerned with a mixture of those issues.

How much prying do you have to do or do most women come in with their own specific questions?
A lot of women who come in with their own questions are very comfortable talking about sex. But if they don’t, the subject usually comes up when I’m interviewing them. At first they may be tentative, but the idea is to open communication

So, the whole issue of government funded abstinence-only education is a confusing one, but we’re here to give you the low-down. Basically, the Bush Administration, in an attempt to offset state-funded sex education programs, has given many states millions of dollars in funding for abstinence-only education—public service announcements and school curriculum promoting abstinence. And for the record, in case it’s been awhile since you were in junior high, sex education always stresses that the only truly “safe” sex is no sex at all, but abstinence-only education stresses that and that alone. Well Washington State just had their abstinence-only grant revoked because the state requires schools to provide additional, medically accurate information about preventing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It seems the grant was only good for funding sex education that covered only one aspect—not having any. Better your kids associate sex with sin, fire, and brimstone than the very real threat of STDs and pregnancy if they don’t use condoms, the pill, and other forms of birth control. [SeattlePI.com]

Remember how I said, like, two seconds ago that 2008 was going to be the year of the unplanned pregnancy? Well I was wrong—by a couple weeks. After Jessica Alba’s surprise announcement that she was knocked up earlier this week, I was literally stupified when OK magazine’s cover story was leaked today, revealing that Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister Jamie Lynn is pregnant too! With her 19-year-old boyfriend’s baby! Do the Spears girls have super ovaries or what? And of course, since no one ever seems to consider schmaschmortion anymore, she’s keeping the baby. In slightly less judgment-inspiring news, Brit singer Lily Allen, 22, is also apparently carrying a bun in the oven with her newish boyfriend (some dude from the Chemical Brothers) and she’s said to be “delighted.” Isn’t anyone upset over unplanned pregnancies anymore? And isn’t anyone else concerned that the whole of Young Hollywood is apparently freaking allergic to condoms and birth control? [Perez Hilton]

...or not! Thanks Business Guy for the reinforcement.

This morning we got a famous hoax-ish email forwarded from a friend with the following headline: “MENSTRUAL CYCLE: PLEASE READ!” Tantalizing! The author’s email concerns her sister, named Nicole, who was taking Seasonale, the birth control pill that leaves you period-less for four months. Somehow, supposedly, the pill caused a blood clot to develop in her neck that then spread to her brain and caused a stroke that killed her.

The tale is basically bs, however it does bring up a question we had about Seasonale to begin with. Like, isn’t it kind of gross to not get your period for four months? Doesn’t the uterine lining build up, but instead of shedding every month during your period, it just chills inside like, you know, old takeout in the back of your fridge? Apparently, we are so wrong! While the long-term affects of Seasonale are not known, doctors do know that when you’re taking any form of birth control hormones, the uterine lining doesn’t build up to the degree that it would when you’re not on the pill—that’s why women on the pill typically have lighter periods. Anyway, we’re sorry Nicole died, but it’s good to know that should we decide we don’t want an excuse to take a week off humping our boyfriend, we have the option. [Urban Legends]