Recently it became known that the option of the contraceptive pill for men it is an ever closer reality. According to a study published in the scientific journal “Nature”, a way to make male sperm useless for a few hours was discovered, based on an experimental drug tested on mice. This invention, claimed for a long time by broad sectors of feminism, is one more option when it comes to taking care of yourself when having sex. But although today it seems like a novelty, there was something that was even more novel: the contraceptive pill for women.
This medicine broke into the 1960s, and generated a sexual, social, cultural and even economic change. Just five years after its launch in the United States, in 1960, some 6.5 million Americans were using it. Today, according to data from the Harvard University, more than 100 million women use it worldwide. The pill implied an abrupt change for women, at the beginning of a decade marked by various social movements, including the feminism. Thanks to this invention, women could decide not to get pregnant, and most importantly, control remained on their side, since until then the only method was the male condom and this led them to have to negotiate with their partners. Negotiation that was not always inclined in favor of the will of women, who saw themselves limited in their ability to act.
The birth control pill arrived just at the moment the call began “sexual revolution” in the 60s, a set of changes regarding the traditional way of conceiving sexual morality that encouraged a freer exploration of one’s own pleasure. Thanks to having this medicine, many women – and, for that matter, many men – were able to start enjoying sex without the consequences of possible pregnancy.
But these were not the only changes introduced by the female contraceptive. It further implied that women could afford to pay more attention to developing their careers. Although these social changes occurred slowly, the change was resounding. Only in the United States, the first country where it began to be used, if in the 70s 90% of graduates in careers such as dentistry, medicine or law were men. By 1980 around one third of the number of graduates were women. Before, in order to reap the benefits of their career, women had to make sure they could avoid becoming a mother until at least their 30s. With this new remedy that possibility was much more accessible. A few years ago, the economist Amalia Miller used a variety of statistical methods to show that if a woman in her 20s can delay childbearing for a year, in monetary terms her lifetime earnings increase by 10%.
Also, the pill changed social dynamics. Before the pill, people married young, since a woman who delayed engagement until her 30s would probably have found that all the men had already married. With the pill, both men and women could slow down and spend more time on their careers or explore their sexual relationships without pressure.
According to the researcher of CONICET, Karina Felitti. In Argentina, the pill began to be used in the 60’s, and the first area in which its use was concentrated was in Maciel Island. That is because at that time the Department of University Extension of the UBA had developed a program on Isla Maciel that included a health center, with which it had been able to respond to the large number of clandestine abortions, among other problems. One of the pioneers in promoting the use of the pill in Argentina was the gynecologist Roberto Nicholson, who developed a family planning program using hormonal contraception. The interesting thing is that he was a staunch Catholic, who in order to avoid “a greater evil”, as he considered abortion, defended the pill in the Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Buenos Aires (SOGIBA).
According to a study of United Nations Population Fund published in 2019, 6 out of 10 Argentine women use contraceptives. While in 1969 only 19% of women of reproductive age used contraceptives, by 1994 that figure had climbed to 48% and today it reaches 66%.
by RN
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