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[music playing] Im Elaine Tyler May, Regents professor
in the departments of American studies and history.
The Pill was important
and widely anticipated for a lot of reasons.
First of all, the oral contraceptive was the first kind
of birth control that was completely separated
from the *** act.
So, the woman could take The Pill, her partner didnt have
to know about it even; certainly didnt have to cooperate in it.
This gave women complete control over contraception
for the first time because every other previous contraception
available was something that men had to at least know about,
tolerate, participate and approve in one way or another.
So, The Pill really did give women
for the first time complete control over contraception
and that was, of course, huge.
Well the interesting thing about The Pills arrival is
that there was a tremendous amount of excitement
that the pill could actually help create a better world.
Most of the developers and advocates at this point
in time had wildly utopian visions for The Pill.
It would eradicate poverty in the developing world by bringing
down the birth rate so that people could afford to take care
of their families in a more healthy
and supportive environment.
Of course were talking about a time in the Cold War
when there were a lot of anxieties
that an impoverished society might turn towards communism,
so many people felt that The Pill would avoid wars
and avoid the spread of communism because people
who could control their fertility
and have small families would become good capitalists
and buy lots of consumer goods.
Then there were the expectations in the United States
that The Pill would allow men and women to enjoy sexuality
in marriage, and be able to predict and control when
and how they had children, to make for happier families,
so that the fear of pregnancy would unleash *** bliss,
so that the divorce rate would go down.
Well we know it didnt solve the population problem.
We know it didnt solve the poverty problem.
We know it didnt put an end to divorce
and we know it didnt put an end to *** pregnancy.
The opposition to The Pill was mostly in terms of a fear
that it would create social chaos, which it did not.
But there was a lot of anxiety around that,
and to this day there are still people who believe, many people,
who believe that the oral contraceptive sparked the
*** revolution.
We have no evidence of that; we have no evidence, really,
that availability of The Pill changed anyones *** behavior.
It changed their contraceptive behavior, for sure,
but we dont have any evidence
that it changed actually their *** behavior.
We have not yet found anyone who has said: The Pill was available
and so because of that I decided to have sex.
The whole power of The Pill was that it allowed women
to take advantage of new opportunities.
So for the first time ever a woman could really plan
to both have a family and have a career;
they didnt have to make that choice.
But, The Pill did not open those doors.
The Pill didnt open the doors to professional training
and universities or job opportunities in the work force
or possibilities in the public world.
Women themselves opened those doors.
The feminist movement opened those doors
and then The Pill allowed women to walk through those doors.