The term "contraceptive mentality" (or "contraceptive mindset") has been around for 40+ years, so imagine my dismay when I discovered there is no good definition of it online! Wikipedia and Google both failed to produce a page with a thorough and charitable explanation, so I'm attempting one here.
The one good article I found had numbers that were a bit dated, but other than that was fairly good. The introduction in particular struck me:
A "mentality" is very difficult to correct because it is insulted by unconscious assumptions and preserved by sheer force of habit... The "contraceptive mentality" implies that a couple have not only the means to separate intercourse from procreation, but the right or responsibility as well.
That's the basic gist of the contraceptive mentality: a division of the unitive and procreative aspects of sex. The intrinsic link of both of these facets of intercourse is denied. Sex is looked at only for pleasure (and less often, only for baby-making), when it is inherently a combination of both. This worldview is only possible through the use of contraception.
The contraceptive mentality treats a woman's healthy body as diseased, as something to be fixed. Her natural fertility must be thwarted and any chance of pregnancy destroyed at all costs... unless of course the woman wants a child and discovers the true pain of infertility, in which case nothing is off limits.
When the contraceptive mentality reigns, sex is considered to be nothing more than a natural instinct. It is as important as eating and drinking (even though you won't actually die if you do not obtain it). Humans are degraded to nothing more than animals that will inevitably give in to this instinct. It is simultaneously trivialized to the point where sex has simply become another type of recreation. When intercourse is simply a game, it makes sense that contraception should be freely available to all. Just as football players wear helmets to protect them from concussions (most of the time), lovers (and I use that word loosely) use contraception to protect them from pregnancy (most of the time).
DeMarco explains,
As the "contraceptive mentality" becomes better established it assumes the character of being natural and inevitable which, by contrast, makes any opposition to contraception seem more and more unnatural and incomprehensible. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that at the very core of the "contraceptive mentality" is a fear of something which is perfectly natural—babies.
The fear of babies seems laughable, and yet it somehow resounds. I've read several rants about how the contraceptive mentality is anti-child, but I think the response towards children is more accurately represented by fear than hate. When I think through my friends, most of who still subscribe to this mentality, I can't think of any of them who actually are against children as a whole. Most of them eventually want children - but there is an unspoken fear of what would happen if a baby appeared now.
Therefore I think it's unfair to characterize the contraceptive mentality as explicitly anti-child (except maybe the "child-free by choice" folks?). If anything, its outlook on children is strictly economic.
- Children are a type of commodity. You should be able to decide exactly how many you want exactly when.
- Children are also a right. You have a right to have one and a right not to have one, and nobody else should be able to infringe upon that right.
- However, that right is revoked if you cannot support the children financially.
- Too many children cause overpopulation.
Just to be clear, I don't think anyone is entitled to dictate another couple's family size, no matter how large or small. I also don't think it's an inherently bad thing to want to make sure a child is well-supported, although I might take issue with different definitions of support and different levels of trust in divine providence. But I do think it is unfair and demeaning to treat a child as simply another economic consideration.
Don't worry, I'm not getting on my Natural Family Planning soapbox here (since I've already done that plenty). My only comment would actually be a caution that NFP can be used with a contraceptive mentality, although it's much more difficult and most NFP couples intentionally avoid it. Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) are basically a secular version of NFP - they're generally against hormonal birth control, but still use barrier methods and are more likely to maintain a contraceptive mentality. Of course, the use of contraception and sterilization promotes and is fueled by the contraceptive mentality. UPDATE: Some people who are smarter than I have explained that it really is not possible to use NFP with a contraceptive mentality. See this article for example.
The legacy of this contraceptive mentality is usually cited as acceptance if not outright increase of abortion, IVF, homosexuality, and so forth, but I'd rather not get into these more controversial things in this post. I don't think anything that I did say before this is really disputable, is it? Is there anything I missed? Do you recognize any of these features in your own worldview?