Birth Control
A simply idea that brought a lot of change
During the 1960s many ideas were established and are still relevant in today’s society. One of the major contributions that derived from the 60s and that is still relevant today is the use of women’s birth control. In the 60s birth control for women first emerged in the form of a pill. The birth control pill allowed women to gain control not only of their bodies, but also in society. The “pill” gave women the power to change cultural norms such as premarital sex, the double standard, and was believed to launch the sexual revolution. Women who took birth control regularly were able to “postpone” pregnancies and pursue whatever career or passion they wanted.[1] The pill regulates a female’s menstrual cycle to ensure she gets her period and shed the uterus lining to prevent pregnancies. This gave women the power to monitor and predict when they will be on their menstrual cycle. During the 1960s, the pill was mainly used by married women so they could control the number of kids they conceive.[2] The birth control pill was invented to prevent unplanned pregnancies in marriages because families could not afford multiple children. However premarital sex was also becoming more common among teenagers and young adults during this time too.[3] For older generations at that time, premarital sex was seen as taboo and disrespectful. Women were realizing that they had more control of their fertility, and people feared that married women would become unfaithful to their stale or unappealing husbands.[4] The double standard was, and still is, the thought that men were allowed to engage in sexual activity and not be judged for their promiscuity but women were.[5] Women who were involved in casual sex, intercourse outside of a relationship, we called derogatory terms such as ‘whore,’ ‘slut,’ and ‘skank.’ This was because without birth control, single women who were having sex were able to get pregnant; and single men who were having sex could not personally get pregnant and were able to deny fathering any out-of-wedlock children. The birth control pill allowed women to have casual sex without the consequence of having a child, thus not leaving ‘evidence’ of sexual activity. With all these outcomes from the production and easy distribution of the birth control pill, the younger generation of the ‘60s challenged and started to reject the older generation’s values.[6] There was an increase of women coming into the workforce; and with the pill when they wanted to get pregnant, they were able to obtain and keep regular occupations.[7] This gave women the opportunity to become the main bread winner in the family and men were able to become stay at home fathers. This reversal of gender roles wasn’t popular with the older generation but has now since become a societal norm. Over the decades the birth control pill has become very popular that new forms of contraceptive have been created. For example there is shot or injection form of the pill, there is also vaginal rings, and implantable devices.[8] Women today continue to take control of their bodies and society has further adapted to the birth control pill by encouraging young women to take birth control.
Notes:
1. "People & Events: The Pill and the Women's Liberation Movement," PBS, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html, paragraph 2.
2. Rita Rubin, "The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women's lives," USA TODAY, Last modified May 8, 2010, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-07-1Apill07_CV_N.htm, paragraph 20-28.
3. Nancy Cohen, "How the Sexual Revolution Changed America Forever," AlterNet, Last modified February 5, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.alternet.org/story/153969/how_the_sexual_revolution_changed_america_forever?page=0,0, paragraph 4.
4. Rita Rubin, paragraph 10.
5. Ibid., paragraph 11.
6. "People & Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution," PBS, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_revolution.html, paragraph 7.
7. "The Women's Movement - Our History," EServer, Last modified May 11, 2005, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/feminist/Womens-Movement.html, paragraph 4.
8. "Birth control methods fact sheet," US Department of Health and Human Services, Last modified July 16, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/birth-control-methods.html.
References:
"Birth control methods fact sheet," US Department of Health and Human Services, Last modified July 16, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014,
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/birth-control-methods.html.
Cohen, Nancy. "How the Sexual Revolution Changed America Forever." AlterNet. Last modified February 5, 2012. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.alternet.org/story/153969/how_the_sexual_revolution_changed_america_forever?page=0,0.
"People & Events: The Pill and the Women's Liberation Movement." PBS. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html.
"People & Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_revolution.html.
Photograph. Google Images. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BTpmgg9rrAw/S57ad9J1YZI/AAAAAAAAALU/BWmtgGdnb5Q/s320/Welton+modern+method+advert.jpg.
Photograph. Google Images. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.markmallett.com/blog/wp-images/Thepill.jpg.
Rubin, Rita. "The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women's lives." USA TODAY. Last modified May 8, 2010. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-07-1Apill07_CV_N.htm.
"The Women's Movement - Our History." EServer. Last modified May 11, 2005. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/feminist/Womens-Movement.html.
1. "People & Events: The Pill and the Women's Liberation Movement," PBS, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html, paragraph 2.
2. Rita Rubin, "The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women's lives," USA TODAY, Last modified May 8, 2010, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-07-1Apill07_CV_N.htm, paragraph 20-28.
3. Nancy Cohen, "How the Sexual Revolution Changed America Forever," AlterNet, Last modified February 5, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.alternet.org/story/153969/how_the_sexual_revolution_changed_america_forever?page=0,0, paragraph 4.
4. Rita Rubin, paragraph 10.
5. Ibid., paragraph 11.
6. "People & Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution," PBS, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_revolution.html, paragraph 7.
7. "The Women's Movement - Our History," EServer, Last modified May 11, 2005, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/feminist/Womens-Movement.html, paragraph 4.
8. "Birth control methods fact sheet," US Department of Health and Human Services, Last modified July 16, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/birth-control-methods.html.
References:
"Birth control methods fact sheet," US Department of Health and Human Services, Last modified July 16, 2012, Accessed April 9, 2014,
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/birth-control-methods.html.
Cohen, Nancy. "How the Sexual Revolution Changed America Forever." AlterNet. Last modified February 5, 2012. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.alternet.org/story/153969/how_the_sexual_revolution_changed_america_forever?page=0,0.
"People & Events: The Pill and the Women's Liberation Movement." PBS. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html.
"People & Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_revolution.html.
Photograph. Google Images. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BTpmgg9rrAw/S57ad9J1YZI/AAAAAAAAALU/BWmtgGdnb5Q/s320/Welton+modern+method+advert.jpg.
Photograph. Google Images. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.markmallett.com/blog/wp-images/Thepill.jpg.
Rubin, Rita. "The pill: 50 years of birth control changed women's lives." USA TODAY. Last modified May 8, 2010. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-07-1Apill07_CV_N.htm.
"The Women's Movement - Our History." EServer. Last modified May 11, 2005. Accessed April 9, 2014, http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/feminist/Womens-Movement.html.