Sometimes it sucks to be a girl. High heels hurt your feet. Blow-drying hair takes too long. Nobody likes mood swings. It sucks to get your period. But it sucks even more when you don't get your period. That can only mean one thing: babies.

So what do sexually active females have to do? Go to the gynecologist (not fun). Take birth-control pills every day. Wake up, take a birth-control pill. Wake up, take a birth-control pill. And if you forget one day, then you have to take two the next day and then it might mess up your period and then no one can have sex. And that means no one is happy.

But guys are lucky. The only thing they have to worry about is having condoms. Before sex, put on the condom. Fairly simple. Men don't have to remember to put on a condom every morning when they wake up and if they forget, they don't have to double up the next morning and mess up their periods.

At least for women, there are multiple options for birth control. If you can't remember to take a birth-control pill every day, you can get the patch. Just stick it on your body and you have instant birth control without worry. Shots of Depo-Provera are also available — once every three months and you are golden (but your butt might be sore). And don't forget the diaphragm and spermicide.

And for the science nerd females, Norplant, two rubber rods placed under the upper arm — which releases progestin for up to two years — and IUDs–Intrauterine Devices inserted into the womb by a doctor — are available. I get a little creeped out by these technologically advanced methods of birth control, so be weary of alien babies in the future.

Pills, shots, doctors appointments … maybe guys are lucky that they don't have to take the majority of birth control responsibility — but then again, maybe that's not quite as ideal as it sounds. Women have plenty of options to protect themselves against pregnancy but the guy has one shot with a condom — and condoms are not 100 percent effective. The only "options" for sexually active men are abstinence or a vasectomy — yikes to both of those.

So is there a birth control pill for men? As far as I know, the answer is no, but it's on the way. If there isn't, then why not? According to Jason Walker-Crawford, the pharmacy manager at University Health Services, there has been research on male contraception but there is nothing that will be released any time soon.

It was difficult to find any recent news on the subject, but the trusty AskMen.com had an article. AskMen.com is the male version of iVillage.com (if any girl has not gone to this website, go now because it is a collection of every article you would want to read in your life) and gave a brief on the male contraceptive pill.

According to the dated article, the pill was set to reach the market by 2005 (umm … where is it?). It is a daily pill that would block the production of sperm while trying to keep testosterone alive. Even though the pill would have to act upon millions of sperm as opposed to one egg for women, it was supposedly 100 percent effective in "preliminary clinical trials."

What might creep out men is that the male birth control-pill would bring their sperm count down to ZERO. But don't worry, their testosterone levels will remain the same — unlike girls who become even more girly while on the pill and cry once a month because of crazy hormonal changes. Maybe the hormonal changes for the male birth-control would cause men to become even manlier … then again, if testosterone levels dropped instead, the men would lose their "manliness" and their sex drive. At least we could cry about it once a month together.

But even if this birth-control pill is on its way, would men actually use it? And would we trust them to use it? I can just see their little case of pills next to their shaving cream and man deodorant. I can picture their phone alarms beeping. … "Anti-baby-pill time, everyone!"

Some guys claim they wouldn't remember to take a pill every day, either. And they have even less reason to take a birth-control pill because "Hey, I'm not going to get pregnant." The consequences "are not as serious" for them. But I would hope most men would take responsibility and be worried about impregnating others.

So on a campus where condoms are thrown at us, Planned Parenthood is down the street from our homes and there are plenty of contraception choices (at least for women), why does University Health Services have the morning-after pill? Probably because we have alcohol on this campus and we're the No. 1 party school. It's called "Plan B" for a reason.

Before spring break 2005, UHS advertised advanced prescriptions for the morning-after pill — an ad that brought controversy to some parents and to Republican state legislators who want to pass a bill prohibiting UW System health centers from advertising, dispensing or prescribing emergency contraception to students.

But Walker-Crawford supports the advertisements. "They encourage people to have advance prescriptions so they can have it with them, especially in places where they won't have access to it," he said. Students can get a prescription for the morning after pill for about $14 at UHS (it's usually almost $40). It must be taken with 72 hours of having sex, but the sooner, the better.

UHS has Plan B, Walgreens on University Avenue carries it and supposedly the UW pharmacy at Hilldale Mall keeps the pill in stock over the weekend for those who have a prescription and need it (but they don't sell it at the student rate). This weekend, if you must resort to Plan B, UHS has an after-hours answering message at 265-5600, where a prescription can be given.

It seems fairly easy for students to get it, but NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin released the results of a study on Nov. 1 stating that 42 percent of 256 pharmacies in 16 cities around the state did not carry emergency contraception. Eleven pharmacies in Madison don't carry the pill (24 percent). On top of that, 40 of 154 pharmacists provided incorrect information on how the pill works when being interviewed.

We are lucky to have a campus where we can go to a Condom Casino, watch a Sex Out Loud presentation and take a bus to UHS for emergency contraception, because sex is not that welcome anywhere else in the state. So even though we can't force our boyfriends to go on the male birth-control pill yet and it isn't always fun to go to the gynecologist, be responsible and take advantage of the options available to you.

Aubre Andrus is a senior double majoring in journalism and communication arts. She forgets to take the pill occasionally and should probably switch to the patch. She can be reached at [email protected].