{"id":57362,"date":"2013-10-03T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T17:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=57362"},"modified":"2013-12-04T22:28:56","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T03:28:56","slug":"50-years-later-is-the-birth-control-pill-patriarchy-compliant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2013\/10\/03\/50-years-later-is-the-birth-control-pill-patriarchy-compliant\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Years Later: Is the Birth Control Pill Patriarchy-Compliant?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I have one thing to say about Holly Grigg-Spall’s\u00a0new book, Sweetening the Pill: How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control<\/em><\/a>, it’s that it brings together ideas in creative ways and comes out with conclusions that are new to me.<\/p>\n

The book is an interrogation of the popularity of hormonal birth control in the U.S. \u00a0In one argument, Grigg-Spall begins with the fact that women’s bodies are a fraught topic. For hundreds of years, the female body has been offered as proof of women’s inferiority to men. \u00a0Feminists have had two options: (1) embrace biological difference and claim equality based on essential femaleness or (2) reject difference and claim equality based on sameness.<\/p>\n

Largely,\u00a0Grigg-Spall argues, the latter has won out as the dominant feminist strategy. Accordingly, all things uniquely female become suspect; they are possible traitors to the cause. \u00a0This includes ovulation, menstruation, and the mild mood swings that tend to accompany them (men have equivalent mood swings, by the way<\/a>, they’re just daily and seasonal instead of monthly-ish).<\/p>\n

Hormonal birth control, then, can be seen as a way to eliminate some of the things about us that make us distinctly “female.” \u00a0“Science is making us better,” the message goes. \u00a0By getting rid of our supposedly feminine frailties, “we are [supposedly] becoming better humans…” \u00a0A quick look at birth control pill advertising reveals that this goes far beyond preventing pregnancy. \u00a0Commercials frequently claim other benefits that conform to socio-cultural expectations for women: reduced PMS, clearer skin, and bigger breasts. \u00a0This Yaz<\/a> commercial, for example, claims that the pill also cures acne, irritability, moodiness, anxiety, appetite, headaches, fatigue, and bloating.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot_4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

To add insult to injury, Grigg-Spall notes, advertising then frames consumption of the pill as liberation. \u00a0In this commercial for Seasonique, the pharmaceutical company positions itself as women’s answer to a mysterious oppressor. \u00a0“Who says?” is repeated a full eight times.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Others<\/a> have<\/a> criticized<\/a>\u00a0Grigg-Spall for, among other things, essentializing femaleness: utilizing \u00a0that strategy for equality that embraces women’s difference from men and asks others to do so as well.<\/p>\n

I’m coming down on the side of “huh!?” \u00a0The Pill made an immeasurable difference for women when it was introduced as the first effective, female-controlled birth control method. \u00a0There’s no doubt about that. \u00a0Her book asks us whether our designation of The Pill as a holy pillar of women’s equality still applies today. \u00a0I think it’s worth thinking about.<\/p>\n

Cross-posted at Pacific Standard<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nLisa Wade, PhD<\/a> is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of <\/em>American Hookup<\/a>, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender<\/a>; and a forthcoming introductory text: <\/em>Terrible Magnificent Sociology<\/a>.\u00a0You can follow her on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I have one thing to say about Holly Grigg-Spall’s\u00a0new book, Sweetening the Pill: How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control, it’s that it brings together ideas in creative ways and comes out with conclusions that are new to me. The book is an interrogation of the popularity of hormonal birth control in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":57368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2083,664,218,257,55,2096,2091,252,23703],"class_list":["post-57362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abortionreproduction","tag-biology","tag-bodies","tag-hygiene","tag-gender","tag-gender-femininity","tag-gender-healthmedicine","tag-healthmedicine","tag-marketing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2013\/09\/Screenshot_1110.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57362"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59716,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57362\/revisions\/59716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}