I have a confession.

I had no idea this was National Women's Health Week, despite several stories in the last issue of 210SA devoted to the occasion, which runs through Sunday, May 19.

I'm guessing most of you didn't know this week was coming up, either.

I'm especially embarrassed to admit my ignorance.

I volunteered at Planned Parenthood when I was in high school, an experience that proved far more informative than the brief sex ed. lectures I got in sophomore health class.

Though I was very inexperienced at the time, I knew a lot about sex from my work with the organization, and I knew a lot about its risks.

Yet, in spite of all my savvy — how a women's reproductive cycle works, how bad STDs can really get — I still have made irresponsible choices.

Women I know have had sex without condoms or birth control. Women I know have had unprotected sex with people they barely knew. These were educated women, wise women, women who would be the first to chastise someone else for making such a stupid decision.

National Women's Health Week exists for a reason: Because all of us have so much more to learn.

But reproductive and sexual responsibility is as much a man's problem as it is a woman's.

Condoms are one of the most common forms of birth control, and I would say use of them is quite dependent on the male, ahem, member.

And any man who wants to avoid an unplanned pregnancy should take it upon himself to ask his girlfriend or one-night stand the crucial question: Are you on the pill? If not, what form of birth control do you use?

Clearly, the world of women's health, sexual health and reproductive health is far different than our parents'.

A case in point: One of last week's 210SA columns discussed the embarrassment women feel when buying condoms at the drug store.

What about asking your pharmacist if they have any emergency contraception available? What about the feeling in the pit of your stomach when the pharmacist tells you they're out of emergency contraception or they don't carry it at all?

Protecting ourselves is complicated.

At least we have options. At least we have a week that identifies the work we have left to do to truly understand our bodies and the ways we sometimes don't protect them.

Our bodies are capable of a lot of amazing things, from childbirth to explosive pleasure.

But we only get one body.