I decided to write my third book, God Bless the Pill, about the mid-twentieth-century history of birth control in 2011. The topic seemed less controversial than abortion, allowing for more nuanced analysis. It also seemed satisfyingly feminist. As a historian of women in American religion, I knew that this time period saw both massive advances in the acceptability and availability of birth control...
Steelman: The article presents a nuanced narrative about the history of birth control pills in the United States, focusing on how they were initially developed for population control and family planning by Catholic organizations and pharmaceutical companies, but later embraced by feminist movements as a tool for women's liberation. The author expresses disappointment that the actors who brought about this feminist tool did so accidentally, and that women had to make it feminist.
Patterns detecte...