A Reproductive Revolution - The Pill

May of 2010 was a significant anniversary, and marked a stark division in our cultural fabric. It shattered gender boundaries, forced men and women to question their relationship with the church and it gave women full control over their ability to bring life into the world. For the first time in our entire existence, humanity had the ability to control a ballooning world population. This little medical miracle I'm talking about is the Birth Control Pill, informally known as "the Pill" in the Global North.  

Today, millions of women in Canada and the US take the Pill,  and give it little or no thought. It's a fleeting moment in our otherwise chaotic schedules, and as long as it keeps doing what it's supposed to, that is, staving off the prospect of motherhood, it remains in that fleeting moment! But for many women, it is not a medicine taken without conscious. 

All forms of artificial contraception have been condemned by the Catholic Church since it's inception and the Pill, it has been a powerful thorn in the Pope's side for decades. But what it also did, was pull the rug out from under men. It stole away their ability to make reproductive decisions for women, and put it directly into the hands of the "vessel" of life, women. Women could choose a career over parenthood, and elongate their professional lives for as long as their wombs would allow. It was unknown at the time, as to the longterm effects of the Pill. Even a crystal ball couldn't have prepared us for the ripple effects created by one tiny pill. The Pill was more than just an oral contraceptive, it was expected to save unhappy marriages, eliminate the need for abortion, eradicated world poverty, and solve the world's impending world population crisis. It didn't quite work out that way. 

In 1957, the Pill was officially approved to be used as course of treatment for women who suffered from several painful menstruation disorders like PMS and scar tissue in the womb caused by heavy periods. But even as late as 1969, doctors were legislated to dispense the Pill only to women with disorders and married women. And it took several decades for pharmaceutical companies, doctors and advertisers to begin targeting at-risk groups such as teenage girls, a demographic that was contributing to a baby boom. 

If you happen to be researching careers in sociology, you have your work cut for you! Experts are only on the cusp of understanding the longterm sociological, environmental, political, cultural and physical effects of the Pill. What is the greater meaning of population control, and how will women grapple with a desire to pursue motherhood, while trying to maintain their careers in a society that doesn't necessarily support their decisions? These are some of the questions left to be answered, as we race toward another millennia.