America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation

by Elaine Tyler May

Overview

In 1960, the FDA approved the oral contraceptive that would come to be known as the pill. Within a few years, millions of women were using it. At a time when the population was surging, many believed that the drug would help eradicate poverty around the globe, ensure happy and stable marriages, and liberate women. In America and the Pill, preeminent social historian Elaine Tyler May reveals the ways in which the pill did and did not fulfill these utopian dreams, while also chronicling the stories of the creators, testers, and users who ultimately made the pill their own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465024599
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	09/06/2011
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	291,378
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Elaine Tyler May is the Regents Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Minnesota. The award-winning author of five books and the former president of the American Studies Association, May lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Mothers of Invention 11

2 The Population Bomb 35

3 Bedfellows 57

4 The Sexual Revolution 71

5 A Pill for Men? 93

6 Questioning Authority 117

7 The Pill Today 143

Conclusion 167

Acknowledgments 173

Notes 175

Index 201

Editorial Reviews

"The Pill kicked off a revolution in assumptions about sex and its consequences. Elaine Tyler May's adept, succinct book makes it clear that the appearance of worry-free contraception immediately concretized the idea that choices about reproduction should be left to the individuals involved."—New Republic

"May writes that the pill profoundly benefited married women.... It's in such small but seismic shifts, this slender but important book reminds us, that history is made."—Boston Globe

"May skillfully shows how women fought for access to the pill, as well as for a safer pill against some pretty big contenders, pharmaceutical companies and the Catholic Church among them."—Washington Post

"May's material is fascinating.... Although America and the Pill is sometimes celebratory, it is actually most useful in illuminating some of the darker corners of the pill's history, a history that women's health activists ought to know."—American Prospect

"[A] noteworthy uncontentious précis of the pill's half-century in American life.... Understanding that the book is fundamentally, nonargumentatively pro-pill, one couldn't ask for a better short history of its subject."—Booklist

"With characteristic clarity and wit, May has produced a compelling history of oral contraception that incorporates medicine, morals, and popular media. In concise and carefully crafted chapters she honors the feminists who enabled the initial research, explores the utopian hopes that the pill would solve world problems, and exposes the myths about its revolutionary impact. A wonderful read for students and a timely source for professionals and the public concerned about sexuality, reproduction, and social policy."—Estelle B Freedman, Edgar E. Robinson Professor in U.S. History at Stanford University, and author of NoTurning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women

"America and the Pill concisely explains the development, evolution, and influence of this revolutionary technology on American culture from the 1950s through the present.... May has written an accessible, engaging text that commemorates an important contraceptive revolution."—Journal of American History

"[I]n America and the Pill, historian Elaine Tyler May tidily debunks perceptions of oral contraception as feminism's magic bullet.... America and the Pill is a lean, captivating history.... May is a skilled writer, and she weaves the book's abundant personal accounts of women's experiences with the Pill with discussion of governmental policies and historical records to create clear and legible scholarship. By the end of America and the Pill, I hadn't just learned about the Pill—I had a better sense of our nation's cultural history."—Bitch

"Brilliantly written and cogently argued, Elaine Tyler May's America and the Pill beautifully portrays the intersection of the sexual revolution, the rise of feminism, and the emergence of the birth control pill. With a keen sense of how culture and politics interact, she explores all the ramifications of this extraordinary change, especially through the words of the women most directly affected. This is a tour de force."—William H. Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History at Duke University and former president of the Organization of American Historians

"Elaine Tyler May is one of those rare historians who can take a set of complicated issues and make them both fascinating and comprehensible. This book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to understand how the Pill changed the lives of women—and men."—Margaret Marsh, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences and University Professor of History, Rutgers University

From the Publisher

…at just over 200 pages, the book is as compact and powerful as the pill itself…May devotes many pages to delineating the moral and physical risks posed by the pill, and rightfully so. But there are lots of reasons to celebrate the pill, and she is at her best when allowing herself to do that. She gives a wonderful account of Sanger's advocacy and of Katharine McCormick, a women's rights activist who bankrolled the pill's development. Likewise, she skillfully shows how women fought for access to the pill, as well as for a safer pill, against some pretty big contenders, pharmaceutical companies and the Catholic Church among them.
—The Washington Post

Ashley Sayeau

University of Minnesota historian May hits pay dirt with this brief but lively history of oral contraceptives on the 50th anniversary of “the pill.” She places the pill in its historical context: coming in the middle of the baby boom, it helped fuel a nascent sexual revolution, a growing youth culture that challenged authority, and feminism. Drawing on an Internet survey she conducted, May offers a treasure trove of stories about a medical and cultural movement that convinced a whole generation of women they were “free to take sex, education, work and even marriage when and how they like.” Nearly 12 million women in the U.S. today take the pill—and take it for granted. “I just couldn't picture a fully functioning society without it!” one pill user proclaims. Still, May (Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era) tosses away a unique chance to bring history to life by revealing in only a brief aside that her parents were involved in the early development and distribution of the pill. (May 3)

Publishers Weekly

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the birth control pill to the American market, May (American studies & history, Univ. of Minnesota) explores its development and its acceptance into American society, becoming a standard in contraception and women's health management. Although she includes pharmacological background on research and development, May's focus is on the political and cultural implications of the pill within American society. Using archival research and oral interviews, she shows that the pill has been used as an instrument of empowerment for women. As a tool in arguments over population control, family planning, and feminism, the pill has had unanticipated implications for gender, class, race, and economic status. Compared with several other recently published scholarly and popular works on women's menstrual management, May's is the most comprehensive regarding the birth control pill itself and contraception. It serves as a good companion to Lara Friedenfeld's The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America. VERDICT Recommended for both general popular culture collections and academic libraries supporting a gender studies program.—Kate Wells, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ. Lib., Savannah, GA

Library Journal