Course:CSIS200/2025/The Birth Control Pill: Empowerment, Inequality, and the Politics of Reproduction

About the Author:

Novia Cyr is an 18-year-old first-year Kinesiology student at the University of British Columbia. She hopes to pursue further studies in the medical field, with particular interest in physical therapy or sports medicine. Alongside her kinesiology coursework, she enjoys exploring new subjects, and the study of gender, sexuality, and the impacts of societal systems that impact women. She was born and raised in San Francisco, a diverse, vibrant, and socially progressive community that has shaped her curiosity and openness to new ideas.

Introduction

The birth control pill, introduced in the United States in the early 1960s, is widely regarded as a major medical innovation that transformed social, cultural, and gender dynamics. Its introduction occurred during a period of major social change, intersecting with the feminist movement, expanding access to higher education, and shifting cultural attitudes toward sexuality. The pill played a central role in reshaping gender expectations by allowing women to plan their futures, pursue careers, and make autonomous decisions about their bodies. In this way, the pill not only marked a breakthrough in medical science but also revealed the deeply political nature of reproductive decision-making. The pill directly connects to the politics of reproduction by granting women new authority to decide whether they want to have children, when they wish to have them, and how they want to manage their own reproductive health.While the pill offered new forms of freedom, it also exposed significant inequalities in reproductive healthcare, particularly for marginalized women who faced limited access, unequal treatment, and coercive reproductive policies. Today, the birth control pill remains a critical part of reproductive healthcare and a symbol of the ongoing struggle over bodily freedom. Its history illustrates both the transformative potential of reproductive technologies and the persistent influence of social, political, and institutional forces that shape women’s ability to control their own reproductive lives. This essay will examine how the birth control pill empowered women’s liberation movements while also exploring the ways it reinforced patriarchal ideas and social constructs about women’s bodies.

Enovid - First Birth Control Pill

Bottle of Enovid Birth Control

The first hormonal pill, Enovid, was approved by the FDA in May 1960 as a treatment for gynecological disorders. Within two years, over 500,000 women were using it for contraception. Since then, oral contraceptives have been improved by reducing the dosage of ethinyl estradiol, introducing 17β-estradiol, and developing new types of progesterone formulas. When taken regularly, the pill is 99% effective in preventing pregnancies, but has common side effects including nausea, breast tenderness, and breakthrough spotting. More serious side effects include migraine headaches and high blood pressure.

The pill marked a revolutionary shift in women’s rights, giving women unprecedented control over their fertility and enabling them to pursue education, careers, and personal goals beyond motherhood. The image of Enovid, often depicted in advertisements, symbolizes this autonomy and the reshaping of gender roles. Overall, Enovid represents both a medical innovation and a cultural artifact, reflecting the dual nature of empowerment and control in women’s reproductive lives. Its history demonstrates how medical progress can both expand and limit control over women's bodies, depending on who is included, excluded, or harmed in the process. This history illustrates how reproductive technologies intersect with the politics of reproduction, shaping who has the freedom to choose and who remains vulnerable to medical and social control.

How Birth Control Works

Ortho-Novum advertisement for the birth control pill, 1963

In 1951, feminist Margaret Sanger, philanthropist Katherine McCormick, and biologist Dr. G.G. Pincus met to begin the project that would eventually lead to the creation of the first oral contraceptive pill. This scientific diagram shows how the birth control pill works. Through the synthetic hormones estrogen and progesterone, the pill stops eggs from being released from the ovaries. Beyond preventing pregnancy, the pill also regulates menstrual cycles by lightening blood flow and reducing stomach cramps or backaches. This image is significant because it illustrates how scientific innovation and medical research revolutionized reproductive health, giving women greater control over their bodies and reshaping their everyday lives. Before hormonal contraception existed, many women had limited ability to decide when or whether they wanted to become pregnant. This affected their independence, their opportunities, education, work, and their long-term well-being.

Historical Background

The image is an advertisement for the C.B.C. (Constructive Birth Control) Society and Free Clinic, founded by Dr. Marie Stopes. It promotes the clinic’s services and location while encouraging readers to consult Birth Control News for more information.

By the late 1960s, seven manufacturers were producing oral contraceptives. Annual U.S. sales reached $150 million, and over 12 million women worldwide were using the pill. Beyond contraception, the pill provides health benefits, protecting against conditions like ovarian and endometrial cancer. Over the past 30 years, it has remained a popular form of contraception, with about one-quarter to one-third of U.S. women using it as their preferred method of birth control.It was marketed in ways that shaped how women understood their bodies, sexuality, and civic responsibility. This is reflected in the C.B.C. (Constructive Birth Control) Society and Free Clinic advertisement which promoted access to reproductive services while encouraging readers to engage with Birth Control News. The image demonstrates how early reproductive advocates used public-facing campaigns not only to expand access to contraception, but also to influence cultural attitudes toward family planning, bodily autonomy, and women’s reproductive rights.

Power and Policy

The birth control pill emerged during a period of rapid social change, including the feminist movement and the sexual revolution. While often celebrated as a symbol of female freedom, it was created and regulated largely by male scientists, physicians, policymakers, and pharmaceutical companies. These institutions shaped how the pill was developed, promoted, and prescribed, often prioritizing male perspectives and broader social interests over women’s health and informed consent. Government agencies and medical authorities determined who could access contraception, frequently restricting information, requiring marital status for approval, or framing the pill as a tool for population control rather than women’s empowerment. In many ways, the pill also benefited men by allowing sexual freedom without the responsibility or risk of pregnancy, reinforcing existing social and sexual power. Meanwhile, women faced higher medical risks, limited transparency about side effects, and fewer opportunities to make fully informed decisions. This imbalance highlights the tension between the pill as a tool of liberation and the systemic power structures that continued to shape reproductive choices.

Empowerment and Women’s Liberation

The availability of oral contraception significantly changed expectations about sex, reproduction, and gender roles. By separating sex from pregnancy, the pill allowed many women to make independent choices regarding their bodies and sexuality. It gave women the freedom to pursue long-term educational and career goals, a freedom that has been a major factor in women’s financial independence from men. According to scholarship in The Handbook of the New Sexuality Studies, the pill expanded women’s opportunities by allowing them to delay marriage, pursue higher education, and enter the workforce in increasing numbers. It also contributed to the sexual revolution by challenging moral beliefs that linked female sexuality to purity and reproductive responsibility. Women were now able to engage in sexual activity without the constant fear of pregnancy or being immediately bound by motherhood, familial obligations, or the expectations of partners.This shift represents a major transformation in the politics of reproduction, as a move to control fertility from social pressure to personal decision-making.

Reinforcement of Patriarchal Structures

While the pill served as a tool of empowerment, it also reflected and reinforced patriarchal ideas about women’s bodies and sexuality. Women were expected to cope with the physical and emotional side effects such as hormonal changes and health risks, while men faced no comparable reproductive responsibilities. Thus, reinforcing the unequal structure of sexual norms in which men benefit from sexual freedom while women bear the physical consequences.

Listen: A Look Back on Birth Control (NPR Podcast)

When the Supreme Court legalized contraception for married couples in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the ruling framed birth control as a privacy right, reflecting the priorities of white, middle-class families and primarily benefiting women who had access to physicians and contraceptive devices. Reproductive technologies were not equally liberating for all women, particularly when early contraceptive trials disproportionately targeted marginalized groups without proper consent or adequate information. African American women during this period also held the belief that controlling fertility would allow black women to maximize the limited educational and economic opportunities available to them. Furthermore, low-income Puerto Rican and Haitian women, for instance, were often exposed to high hormone doses and significant health risks during early trials of the pill.Science journalist Andy Carstens describes many of these women as having been treated as “guinea pigs,” raising serious ethical concerns about exploitation. These histories illustrate how the development and implementation of the pill were shaped by systemic inequalities and unequal power relations, limiting genuine reproductive autonomy for women outside of privileged social groups. These examples show how intersectionality shapes reproductive justice, as women of different racial, economic, and social backgrounds experience unequal barriers to contraception, abortion access, and simple healthcare.

Women’s Activism and Access to Contraception

Click here to view the birth control ad on Getty Images

- Advertisement for the birth control pill, Getty Images

The image above depicts women in the 1960s advocating for reproductive freedom and access to contraception. The sign, shown in the image, displays an ad that was created to normalize access to supportive organizations like Planned Parenthood. This image is crucial because it showcases how the birth control pill was not only a medical innovation but also a political and social catalyst. This photo in particular captures the broader struggle for gender equality, showing how fighting for contraception access represented a deeper demand for independence for women. This source connects to The Pink House at the Center of the World podcast, because both show the ongoing fight for reproductive freedom.The podcast mentions Planned Parenthood, highlighting how organizations continue to provide vital access to care. The podcast follows abortion providers and activists working to protect women’s rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Specifically, the podcast details the opening of a new Planned Parenthood abortion clinic just across the river from Missouri, where abortion is now illegal, and discussed the effects of the resulting influx of patients. Both the photo and the podcast show that the fight for bodily autonomy and gender equality persists, as social and political forces continue to shape women’s reproductive rights today.

Connections to Sexuality and Social Constructs

The cultural influence of the pill relates closely to broader discussions about the social construction of sexuality. Contemporary analyses such as Virginity Isn't Real and Why Virginity Is a Damaging Social Construct explain how ideas of virginity and sexual purity have historically been used to regulate the moral value of women. Women were pressured to hide or "save" their sexuality for their husbands to remain pure, limiting their freedom. This social construct reinforced patriarchal control by ensuring that women remained virgins so that men could be certain of paternity. The pill disrupted these expectations by decoupling sex from reproduction, allowing women to make choices about their bodies and sexuality on their own terms.

Religion and societal norms further reinforced these gendered expectations, labeling premarital sex as sinful and pressuring women to conform, often limiting their control over their own bodies. However, the pill allowed women to create their own meaning of sexuality and challenge the historical structures that had constrained their independence.

Despite these changes, gendered double standards persisted, linking male sexuality with freedom and female sexuality with shame or risk. The persistence of these attitudes highlights the ongoing role of patriarchal norms on cultural attitude toward sex, showing that even as birth control expanded women's control, broader social expectations continued to shape the ongoing battle for equality and bodily freedom. This imbalance reveals how deeply entrenched patriarchal norms continue to shape cultural attitudes towards sex.

Reproductive Justice in the Modern Era

This image represents a protest against the 2022 US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Similarly, Reproductive Justice by activist Loretta J. Ross and scholar Rickie Solinger discusses the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which ended the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States. The authors emphasize the need for unity and equality in defending women’s right to choose, illustrating how control over reproductive rights continues to function as a form of political and patriarchal power. The pill, therefore, stands not only as a symbol of progress but also as a reminder of the persistent influence of patriarchal forces within movements for women’s freedom. The pill, abortion, sexual health rights, and access to reproductive healthcare all form part of a larger struggle in which bodily autonomy is continuously contested by social, legal, and political systems.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade represents a profound setback for women’s rights and bodily control, shifting what had been a decades-long movement toward greater reproductive freedom into a period of renewed restriction. Women now face increasing limits on their ability to make decisions about their own bodies, imposed by political and legal systems that often do not reflect their lived experiences or needs. In this context, access to birth control becomes even more essential. Contraception acts as a safeguard, helping women avoid unintended pregnancies that, in certain states, could completely strip them of the ability to access a safe medical abortion. Birth control allows women to maintain agency over their bodies and serves as a defense against the tyranny of governmental control over reproductive decisions. It must be widely available, normalized, and incorporated into comprehensive sex education to ensure that women retain as much control and choice as possible.

Conclusion

The birth control pill occupies a complex place in the history of gender and sexuality. It expanded women’s autonomy, challenged restrictive cultural norms, and enabled new forms of participation in society. Yet its development, regulation, and public framing were shaped by patriarchal institutions that continued to limit women’s reproductive freedom and reinforce unequal expectations around sexuality. As both a tool of empowerment and a product of social inequality, the pill highlights the tension between individual choice and systemic control. Ultimately, even though the pill brought profound benefits, meaningful reproductive freedom cannot be fully realized unless the social structures and political systems governing women’s bodies also change. Understanding the pill through the politics of reproduction shows that access, autonomy, and healthcare continue to depend on broader power relations that determine which women can truly exercise control over their own lives.