On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950-1970

By Elizabeth Siegel Watkins

Book Overview

"In 1968, a popular writer ranked the pill's importance with the discovery of fire and the developments of tool-making, hunting, agriculture, urbanism, scientific medicine, and nuclear energy. Twenty-five years later, the leading British weekly, the Economist , listed the pill as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The image of the oral contraceptive as revolutionary persists in popular culture, yet the nature of the changes it supposedly brought about has not been fully investigated. After more than thirty-five years on the market, the role of the pill is due for a thorough examination."--from the Introduction In this fresh look at the pill's cultural and medical history, Elizabeth Siegel Watkins re-examines the scientific and ideological forces that led to its development, the part women played in debates over its application, and the role of the media, medical profession, and pharmaceutical industry in deciding issues of its safety and meaning. Her study helps us not only to understand the contraceptive revolution as such but also to appreciate the misinterpretations that surround it.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801858763
• ISBN13: 9780801858765
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.8" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Great study of the evolution in medicine

Watkins does a decent job of explaining how the idea of "the pill" came into being. It covers the initial social controversies and medical developments of birth control. The coalitions between Planned Parenthood and the original race for private grant money show an interesting alliance. Watkins really does an excellent job of looking at all the groups who had a stake in this project including the Catholic Church, FDA and medical professionals. It is not simply a feminist history but a multifaceted study of how the Pill became one of the most consumed drugs in the country. One of the disappointing factors and the main reason I would only rate it at 4 stars is that if is very narrowly focused in the brand of pill that it follows. It really does not go into the other ones that were coming out as competition in the 1970's even as an afterthought and I feel that is important to address. The book is very well written and is a great addition to the history of science and pharmaceuticals. I really wish we had more like it.

A superbly presented medical and social history.

Elizabeth Watkins' On The Pill: A Social History Of Oral Contraceptives, 1950-1970 is an informative social history of oral contraceptives covers the period from 1950-70, when the pill was at its strongest development and played a major role in changing women's lives. Chapters survey the contraceptive revolution and common misconceptions surrounding it in a set of coverages on both medical and social realities.