I'm a little late on this, but this past May 9th marked the 50th anniversary of the FDA approval of the birth control pill.
TIME did a nice little write up covering the history of the pill, from early forms of birth control (paste made from crocodile dung as a vaginal insert, anyone?), the conception of the idea of a magic little pill (thanks Margaret Sanger!), to creation of the pill, getting FDA approval, and the role the pill on women's liberation and the sexual revolution. This is a must read for women who take or have taken the pill, and really any woman that wants to know about the history of birth control and feminism, because they are so very intertwined.
For more info on birth control check out the first issue of PoolBoy Magazine (hitting the streets in August!) which includes a guide to "Rethinking your Birth Control." Stay tuned for pre-order opportunities!
Here's my favorite quote from the TIME article:
Some of the women who were on the family-planning front lines 50 years ago get a little impatient when they hear young women talking ungratefully about the freedoms they take for granted. But Steinem, for one, takes the longer view. "I don't walk around saying, 'Thank you for the vote,' " she says of a battle even longer past. "I might add, as Susan B. Anthony said, Our job is not to make young women grateful. It's to make them ungrateful so they keep going. Gratitude never radicalized anybody."
There's no time like the present to get radical.
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