This skit from That 70's Show gives a good depiction on what family and friends thought of the pill
The Pill
Birth control has been in use by various methods since ancient times. There is historical documentation from the biblical days of ancient times in Egypt about preventing births. Birth control was a usual male dominated practice, meaning that it was always up to the man to determine the fate of their female counterpart. With the advent of the birth control pill, women were free to control their own bodies and even have sex for recreational purposes. The social ramifications were immense because women were becoming more equal to men sexually from the fact that men were no longer able to dominate women freely. Prior to 1960 women had to undergo extreme personal trauma as a result of unwanted pregnancy, this trauma could include dangerous “back-room” abortions, being ridiculed and out cast in society by family and friends. Women were also being faced with prospect of raising unwanted children they are not prepared to handle. As a result of the pill, it created a sense of freedom where all women could join the workforce, go to school, have their own careers, and control their own destiny.
The long term risks of birth control were unknown at first, but the appeal it had to women outweighed the times current concerns. The priority of making it safe from the major pharmaceutical companies could have been rushed as long term studies were not implemented. Some negative side effects of the birth control pill could include weight gain, hair loss, mood swings, bleeding, nausea, depression, possible blood clots, stroke, and it can interfere with a woman’s fertility. Some positive effects from taking the pill can lower risks of getting cancer for endometrial and ovarian cancer by more than 70 percent, after taking it for more than 12 years. Doctor’s studies show that it’s safe for a women to take an oral contraceptive for 20 years or more; from researchers at the University Of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver, stated the only reason to stop taking it is if one want’s to get pregnant. Estrogen levels go up drastically from the pill and decreases testosterone, which stimulates oil productivity in creating clear skin for the user. The contraceptive provides a relief from pain during menstrual cycles and gives the user fewer periods.
The views of the oral contraceptive from the perspective of African American women were being influenced by black men in the 1960’s. Men thought that the contraceptive was means of genocide from the white race. Sterilization was a direction towards race control in the eyes of the African American men and the pill aided in population control for the blacks. Black women were in favor for the oral contraceptive, it helped from the problems in having children with men who are unfit to care. In an article Birth Control Pills and Black Children, by the Black Unity Party, published by Boston: New England Free Press, in 1969, made many shrewd statements towards the position on what the birth control pill stood for. The moral standards of the black women at the time were trying to become more civilized by the liberation the pill provided to them. They did not want to become a slave sexually because they have a child with a certain man. A response to this article from “The Black Sisters,” said “Poor black men won’t support their families, won’t stick by their woman - - all they think about is the street, dope, liquor, a piece of ass, and their cars. That’s all that counts. Poor black women would be fools to sit up in the house with a whole lot of children and eventually go crazy, sick, heartbroken, no place to go, no sign of affection - - nothing. Middle class white men have always done this to their women - - only more sophisticated like.” Today the standards have certainly changed, women of all races benefit from the liberation associated with the birth control pill.
Religions all over the world have always been opposed to any means of controlling birth, I believe religion confused birth control with promiscuous sex. Now many churches find themselves on a collision course with science. The Catholic Church felt that the use of sex is only to be with ones married spouse for the purpose of procreation. With the advent of the pill it gave families the option to set aside their religious beliefs and focus on personal and family needs. The church turned to fear and intimidation to deter women from using the pill and other contraceptive options. Despite the churches efforts, women made an impact on American families, birth control usage increased up 38% to 51%. Today prominent religious institutions filed suit against Obama’s Affordable Care Act mandate, requiring insurance companies to cover birth control without a co-pay. They feel that there is pressure for them to pay for birth control pills, which is against their religious beliefs. People who are oppose this mandate argue that requiring any amount of money to pay is a restriction of a woman’s reproductive rights. So the question is, should the catholic institutions be forced to pay for an employee’s birth control or is this against their religious dogma. The Supreme Court agreed at the end of November 2013 to hear this case out. This will be a landmark decision pitting religious restrictions upon a woman’s reproductive rights. Making this situation a civil rights argument in the 21st century. One perspective is that a growing number of people believe, requiring payment for medical services is the same as denial of access for the poor. In the Jewish community many orthodox Jews believes that god does the family planning and the birth control pill is not a necessity, but Jewish law permits birth control particularly for women who are very young or are nursing.
The fight over a woman’s reproductive rights have spilled into the political arena for forty years. There has been many situations where the government will enforce the will of women. Public polls suggest that the pill has the potential to be a terrible issue polarizing candidates of all parties in the government. Just recently during the presidential campaign of 2012 candidate Romney supported legislation that allowed employers to refuse employees birth control through health care for moral and religious reasons. Then upon criticism from Obama, Romney proceeded to change his position saying every woman in America should have access to contraceptives and the president is wrong about my stance. This made the majority of women think that he would try to regulate a woman’s means of reproduction and his support dropped. Usually the case in any situation where men start telling women how to use their bodies negative outcomes unfold. The majority of women during that election were dissatisfied and made a major difference in the outcome of the candidate. As always in history repression of ones will results in clashing of moral opinions.
Birth control pills have made a profound impact on modern day societies, they have changed thousands of years of accepted social standards. That change along with the pill offered the opportunity to pursue goals that were previously unattainable to them. This empowering of women in society has led to the rise of other movements and social rights movements. The foundations of society have been shaken with this dramatic shift from the power women possess in the household. This change in household hierarchy has led to the best traits to both men and women in making them equal to each other in experiencing life moments. Today there are many different forms of birth control that are helping the way women live their lives so they can be independent, self-sufficient, have the freedom of choice on when to have a child.
Birth control has been in use by various methods since ancient times. There is historical documentation from the biblical days of ancient times in Egypt about preventing births. Birth control was a usual male dominated practice, meaning that it was always up to the man to determine the fate of their female counterpart. With the advent of the birth control pill, women were free to control their own bodies and even have sex for recreational purposes. The social ramifications were immense because women were becoming more equal to men sexually from the fact that men were no longer able to dominate women freely. Prior to 1960 women had to undergo extreme personal trauma as a result of unwanted pregnancy, this trauma could include dangerous “back-room” abortions, being ridiculed and out cast in society by family and friends. Women were also being faced with prospect of raising unwanted children they are not prepared to handle. As a result of the pill, it created a sense of freedom where all women could join the workforce, go to school, have their own careers, and control their own destiny.
The long term risks of birth control were unknown at first, but the appeal it had to women outweighed the times current concerns. The priority of making it safe from the major pharmaceutical companies could have been rushed as long term studies were not implemented. Some negative side effects of the birth control pill could include weight gain, hair loss, mood swings, bleeding, nausea, depression, possible blood clots, stroke, and it can interfere with a woman’s fertility. Some positive effects from taking the pill can lower risks of getting cancer for endometrial and ovarian cancer by more than 70 percent, after taking it for more than 12 years. Doctor’s studies show that it’s safe for a women to take an oral contraceptive for 20 years or more; from researchers at the University Of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver, stated the only reason to stop taking it is if one want’s to get pregnant. Estrogen levels go up drastically from the pill and decreases testosterone, which stimulates oil productivity in creating clear skin for the user. The contraceptive provides a relief from pain during menstrual cycles and gives the user fewer periods.
The views of the oral contraceptive from the perspective of African American women were being influenced by black men in the 1960’s. Men thought that the contraceptive was means of genocide from the white race. Sterilization was a direction towards race control in the eyes of the African American men and the pill aided in population control for the blacks. Black women were in favor for the oral contraceptive, it helped from the problems in having children with men who are unfit to care. In an article Birth Control Pills and Black Children, by the Black Unity Party, published by Boston: New England Free Press, in 1969, made many shrewd statements towards the position on what the birth control pill stood for. The moral standards of the black women at the time were trying to become more civilized by the liberation the pill provided to them. They did not want to become a slave sexually because they have a child with a certain man. A response to this article from “The Black Sisters,” said “Poor black men won’t support their families, won’t stick by their woman - - all they think about is the street, dope, liquor, a piece of ass, and their cars. That’s all that counts. Poor black women would be fools to sit up in the house with a whole lot of children and eventually go crazy, sick, heartbroken, no place to go, no sign of affection - - nothing. Middle class white men have always done this to their women - - only more sophisticated like.” Today the standards have certainly changed, women of all races benefit from the liberation associated with the birth control pill.
Religions all over the world have always been opposed to any means of controlling birth, I believe religion confused birth control with promiscuous sex. Now many churches find themselves on a collision course with science. The Catholic Church felt that the use of sex is only to be with ones married spouse for the purpose of procreation. With the advent of the pill it gave families the option to set aside their religious beliefs and focus on personal and family needs. The church turned to fear and intimidation to deter women from using the pill and other contraceptive options. Despite the churches efforts, women made an impact on American families, birth control usage increased up 38% to 51%. Today prominent religious institutions filed suit against Obama’s Affordable Care Act mandate, requiring insurance companies to cover birth control without a co-pay. They feel that there is pressure for them to pay for birth control pills, which is against their religious beliefs. People who are oppose this mandate argue that requiring any amount of money to pay is a restriction of a woman’s reproductive rights. So the question is, should the catholic institutions be forced to pay for an employee’s birth control or is this against their religious dogma. The Supreme Court agreed at the end of November 2013 to hear this case out. This will be a landmark decision pitting religious restrictions upon a woman’s reproductive rights. Making this situation a civil rights argument in the 21st century. One perspective is that a growing number of people believe, requiring payment for medical services is the same as denial of access for the poor. In the Jewish community many orthodox Jews believes that god does the family planning and the birth control pill is not a necessity, but Jewish law permits birth control particularly for women who are very young or are nursing.
The fight over a woman’s reproductive rights have spilled into the political arena for forty years. There has been many situations where the government will enforce the will of women. Public polls suggest that the pill has the potential to be a terrible issue polarizing candidates of all parties in the government. Just recently during the presidential campaign of 2012 candidate Romney supported legislation that allowed employers to refuse employees birth control through health care for moral and religious reasons. Then upon criticism from Obama, Romney proceeded to change his position saying every woman in America should have access to contraceptives and the president is wrong about my stance. This made the majority of women think that he would try to regulate a woman’s means of reproduction and his support dropped. Usually the case in any situation where men start telling women how to use their bodies negative outcomes unfold. The majority of women during that election were dissatisfied and made a major difference in the outcome of the candidate. As always in history repression of ones will results in clashing of moral opinions.
Birth control pills have made a profound impact on modern day societies, they have changed thousands of years of accepted social standards. That change along with the pill offered the opportunity to pursue goals that were previously unattainable to them. This empowering of women in society has led to the rise of other movements and social rights movements. The foundations of society have been shaken with this dramatic shift from the power women possess in the household. This change in household hierarchy has led to the best traits to both men and women in making them equal to each other in experiencing life moments. Today there are many different forms of birth control that are helping the way women live their lives so they can be independent, self-sufficient, have the freedom of choice on when to have a child.
In 1963, this print in On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950-1970, by Elizabeth Watkins. This add out of a magazine showing the new and improved Ortho-Novum with less harmful side effects. It says “In over four years, only one unplanned pregnancy in 23,471 cycles of 1,144 women who took the tablets as directed,” showing that it’s safe and effective, making it very appealing to sexually active women.
The add above is an Obamacare poster making a joke about how easy it is to get birth control pills through your healthcare, and saying hopefully the man in the add is not as easy to get. It makes women think differently about their partners making men seem easier to get, once they have the pill. The fact that it says “all I have to worry about is getting him between the covers,” creates the misconception that women don’t have to worry about making babies while having intercourse anymore. Hopefully they are still practicing safe sex.
Courtesy of PBS
(available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/gallery/gal_pill_03.html)
This diagram of the container holding the oral contraception’s shows the simplicity of the case. Today the design is similar with some minor changes. It is arranged in chronological order to help inform the woman what days she has taken the pill or if she has missed a day.
(available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/gallery/gal_pill_03.html)
This diagram of the container holding the oral contraception’s shows the simplicity of the case. Today the design is similar with some minor changes. It is arranged in chronological order to help inform the woman what days she has taken the pill or if she has missed a day.
the document above is a newsletter published by Boston: New England Free Press, n.d.
Black men from the Black Unity Party in New York expressed their views on that the birth control pill stood for. It was made in 1968 and was very racially biased and directed their comment twards black women urging them not to take "the pill". They saw it as means of genocide to their race and think that they were being victim to population control. In response the women of the black community responded saying, "Now a lot of the black brothers are into a new bag. Black women are being asked by militant black brothers not to practice birth control because it is a form of whitey committing genocide on black people. Well, true enough, but it takes two to practice genocide and black women are able to decide for themselves, just like poor people all over the world, whether they will submit to genocide. For us, birth control is freedom to fight genocide of black women and children."
Bibliography
2001, "The Pill." American Decades., and "pill, The." World Encyclopedia. 2005. "The Pill." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2001. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
This source is a informational documentation of what the birth control pill is. It explains how the anatomy of the woman body is affected. Goes into detail on how it was created and where it was tested. It elaborates on how the moral feelings of these oral contraception’s were being seen in a public view, how many women were using it and the development of the “autonomous girl”. Goes into the evolution of sex and the sexual anarchy, and the population bomb.
"A New Edition for a New Era - Our Bodies Ourselves." A New Edition for a New Era - Our Bodies Ourselves. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
This article is a timeline of the history of the oral contraceptive. It goes from the beginning of 3000 B.C. to today’s times. I plan on focusing on the 60’s to 70’s era of the pill, and how it was seen through the view of the public and the viewpoint of women. This source will help me in my paper because it shows me the time and significances of each era.
Robinson, Patricia. "Poor Black Women." Women's Liberation Movement. Boston: New England Free Press, N.d., 11 Sept. 1968. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
An article made from a black rights activism group on their thoughts about what the birth control pill is. In this article women of a group of six ladies who called themselves the “black sisters,” who are the voice of all black women in America, responded to the men’s allegations. It was produced at the time when the BC pill was just first starting to come into the public’s reach. The concerns of the men were being expressed. In the article Patricia Robinson wrote a segment on the poor black women of America talking about the social and moral issues on this topic.
Magazine, WebMD Feature from "Redbook" "Other Reasons to Take the Pill." WebMD. WebMD, 30 Dec. 2005. Web. 01 Dec. 2013
In this WebMD article that was published in Redbook Magazine goes into depth on what the side effects and perks to taking the birth control pill. It explains how the pill is more than just a pill to prevent birth, it has some extraordinary advantages to the women users who take it. It is relevant to my topic in addressing the vital information on what it exactly does to the body.
2001, "The Pill." American Decades., and "pill, The." World Encyclopedia. 2005. "The Pill." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2001. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
This source is a informational documentation of what the birth control pill is. It explains how the anatomy of the woman body is affected. Goes into detail on how it was created and where it was tested. It elaborates on how the moral feelings of these oral contraception’s were being seen in a public view, how many women were using it and the development of the “autonomous girl”. Goes into the evolution of sex and the sexual anarchy, and the population bomb.
"A New Edition for a New Era - Our Bodies Ourselves." A New Edition for a New Era - Our Bodies Ourselves. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
This article is a timeline of the history of the oral contraceptive. It goes from the beginning of 3000 B.C. to today’s times. I plan on focusing on the 60’s to 70’s era of the pill, and how it was seen through the view of the public and the viewpoint of women. This source will help me in my paper because it shows me the time and significances of each era.
Robinson, Patricia. "Poor Black Women." Women's Liberation Movement. Boston: New England Free Press, N.d., 11 Sept. 1968. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
An article made from a black rights activism group on their thoughts about what the birth control pill is. In this article women of a group of six ladies who called themselves the “black sisters,” who are the voice of all black women in America, responded to the men’s allegations. It was produced at the time when the BC pill was just first starting to come into the public’s reach. The concerns of the men were being expressed. In the article Patricia Robinson wrote a segment on the poor black women of America talking about the social and moral issues on this topic.
Magazine, WebMD Feature from "Redbook" "Other Reasons to Take the Pill." WebMD. WebMD, 30 Dec. 2005. Web. 01 Dec. 2013
In this WebMD article that was published in Redbook Magazine goes into depth on what the side effects and perks to taking the birth control pill. It explains how the pill is more than just a pill to prevent birth, it has some extraordinary advantages to the women users who take it. It is relevant to my topic in addressing the vital information on what it exactly does to the body.