In the 1950′s, the discovery of the pill brought upon great changes for the general population of women and our society as a whole. It was the beginning of a kind of liberation that would enable women the right to make their own life decisions. It was the work of four individuals who challenged the “Comstock laws” that changed the way of life for many individuals at that time. A woman named Margaret Sanger was an avid activist who campaigned for the women’s right to use birth control. A scientist named Gregory Pinkus later joined her. It was during their research that they ran out of funds and met a woman named Catherine Dexter McCormick. She became the major monetary source for their continuing research. They later met a surgeon named Dr. John Rock who agreed with their views as well. Despite his position in the Catholic Church, he believed that the church’s views on birth control were unrealistic and damaging to a marriage. They conducted their research in Puerto Rico. The women there were eager to participate in the birth control study. Their work was done on May 11, 1960, when the pill was approved by the FDA.
At that time our society had very narrow views about family life and how women should lead their lives. Everyone just generally assumed that the every woman should cook and clean and have children. At that time it seemed that some women wanted to have a career and would’ve liked to have the choice to do so. It was also a very innocent time when people fully trusted the medical community. An example of this is when a woman in the film states that when a person goes to get a check up exam that they should never question the doctor about anything.
One of the things that were missing in our society at that time was equality. Women were feeling neglected and trapped in their own lives. Trapped in the way that they felt obligated to follow the patterns that society had chosen for them. For example, they were supposed to attend college, get married, and then have children right away.
Many individuals were blinded by the dominant structure of ideas in society at that time. Everyone has the right to question what they have been shown and to have the courage to stand up for something despite the public. They also did not question what was happening around them. Many of them seemed to just follow the ideas of others. What our society failed to question was whether those ideas were best suited for everyone.
A favorite quote of mine was when Gregory Pinkus stated “Everything is possible in science”. They successfully proved that in many ways. Because of science, we discovered our individual freedom of rights and expression; while women were given a freedom of their own. Our society can learn from the examples that were shown by Margaret Sanger and her colleagues. What we can learn from this movie is that we cannot assume that what is right for ourselves is right for everyone else. We should also realize how certain groups in society can use their power to stifle the growth of our community. I cannot imagine what the lives of women today would be if the pill was never created. I never realized what a great gift it is to have the choices that we have today. Perhaps we don’t realize the sacrifices that were made in order for us to live the way we do. We definitely have some big shoes to fill.
By: Michelle Joseph
About the Author:
Michelle Joseph is a freelance writer specializing in health. She enjoys researching various topics, as well as sharing her knowledge regarding health related issues. She can be contacted at violett.1@hotmail.com.
