What I consider to be extremely normal and treat like the vitamin C I swallow every morning, is in fact a symbol of women’s liberation. I am not being a feminist here but just looking back to those days when a woman did not have the freedom to choose to be a mother leaves me with a weird feeling of proud and relief. Proud for my grand mother and her female counterparts, proud that the following generations including mine continued to improve this scientific invention. Nowadays, we use it to treat acne, moods, period cycles besides pregnancy.

If it is still a controversial subject, a world without “the pill” today or tomorrow, is unthinkable. For a bit of history, it was invented by Dr Pincus but the two feminists behind the pill were born a century earlier, in the 1870s. The intellectual spark came from the suffragist Margaret Sander, who had this dream that one day a magic pill would prevent pregnancy. On the financial side, the philanthropist scientist Katharine McCormick, bankrolled the work of Dr Pincus. Teamwork, 2 women and a man, that had a strong common vision and made it happen. I am of course very thankful and even more when I read the other day that my small tiny pill can also prevent serious diseases such as cancer. If my pill has not been the expected answer to overpopulation or poverty, we are as Dr Ruth* puts it: “very fortunate that that pill came on the market because it has revolutionized sexuality”.
For some, it has destroyed marriage, for others it has helped the cause; my little friend can sort “technical issues” and this is already a lot. For relationship issues, get yourself a shrink.

More than being a symbol of love, it is “a” if not “the” symbol of my freedom… I just love you… Happy birthday!
 
* Dr Ruth was born in Frankfurt in 1928 to an orthodox Jewish family. She fled the Nazi Germany as a little girl. Her parents died in the Shoah. She emigrated to the USA in the 1950s. She is known for her radio show “Sexually Speaking, dealing with sexual matters. Every Sunday at midnight, the therapist unleashes her racy advice on the airwaves, on everything from homosexuality, masturbation, ejaculation and contraception.

Sources: The associated press, www.straitstimes.com

Text by Delphine Hervieu.