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 contraceptives were approved, the family structure consisted of a working father, stay at home mother, and around four to five children on the average. In the early 1900s, it was not unusual for a family to have 10 or more children. Today, many women are working, some dads stay at home with children, and families consist of one or two children."

A second group discussed how critics of the birth control pill emphasize that it was created by men to be taken by women. Here are some general remarks:

"The pill was developed by men, but it was not originally made to be a contraceptive. Women such as Margaret Sanger and Katherine McCormick were the ones who pushed to use the drug as a contraceptive. Women may feel more responsible to take 'the pill' because in the end, they are the ones carrying the baby."

Now, I must admit the latter question really sparked a huge debate. One female student asked, "why don't they have a birth control pill for men?' Without missing a beat, a male student responded "that girls wouldn't trust a guy to take a birth control pill." Ultimately, the class felt that the responsibility of birth control falls on the woman because she is the one carrying a child, and a man can simply walk away. Sadly, situations like that do occur. I must say, I found the entire decision thought-provoking and humorous. (A few male students even were giving each other high fives!) Quite honestly, I didn't know the students were going to respond so strongly. However, the battle lines were clearly drawn between the men and women.