The Impact of the Birth Control Pill
Recently, I had an interesting discussion with my freshman students about the impact of the birth control pill on society. I had the students work in groups of 3-4 and focus on various aspects of this topic and write a concise paragraph supporting their argument. One group discussed if they believed 'the pill' was largely responsible for the women's liberation movement and the increase in percentage of women in the workplace. Here are some general comments: "We believe 'the pill' did not create the women's liberation movement, but instead provided an avenue. It gave women an important issue to fight for. The pill did not increase the percentage of women in the workplace. This could be attributed to World War II. It may have freed women from the social norm of "baby makers" and allowed them to find work. However, we strongly believe that oral contraceptives were not the main cause. We do believe it led to the breakdown of the family. Before contr