1 / 8

Reproductive Sex in the Age of the Pill

Reproductive Sex in the Age of the Pill. Sexual freedom impossible in most societies until the invention of the oral contraceptive in 1950 The invention of the pill was the catalyst for a number of social and political events in the late 1960s and 70s

bayle
Download Presentation

Reproductive Sex in the Age of the Pill

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Reproductive Sex in the Age of the Pill Sexual freedom impossible in most societies until the invention of the oral contraceptive in 1950 The invention of the pill was the catalyst for a number of social and political events in the late 1960s and 70s Coincided with the resurgence of feminism in the U.S. and Western Europe Coincided with the rise of a youth culture and rock and roll

  2. The Politics of Sexual Pleasure • Traditionally men had more sexual control than women in a relationship • How could both men and women achieve equal pleasure? • In 1962 Helen Gurley Brown wrote Sex and the Single Girl, a book that proclaimed the right of single women to have a career and to enjoy sex. In 1965 she became the editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine. • Books published in the 1972 explored this issue such as the Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort- the modern Kama Sutra • How could women understand their bodies--

  3. Helen Gurley Brown

  4. Feminist Sexual Concerns • Right not to be sexual objects • Right to control reproductivity • Right to be independent of men if they chose • Demanded: Legalization of abortion, decriminalization of prostitution, end to female genital mutilation, End female sexual slavery

  5. Important Dates for Western Feminists • 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Decision • United Nations Conference on Women in Mexico City • 1995 Beijing Conference on Women • General relationships with non-Western women • Political differences between Anglo women in US and women of color • Relationship with gays and lesbians

  6. Feminist Objections to the Pill • Medical problems associated with the pill include risk of cancer, strokes, high blood pressure, blood cots, etc. • Women must take the pill instead of men. • Women rarely consulted about how to market the pill • Similar objections to Norplant, the tubes of birth control drugs implanted into Third World Women’s arms so that they won’t forget to take their pills

  7. Protecting Sex Workers • Two types of politics: 1) remove women from sex work and 2) give sex workers protection from illness and harassment. • 1)Typical pattern of 19th century moral reformers Spread to international scene from the time of the League of Nations Renewed in the 1970s and 80s, particularly after the Viet Nam War when many Asian women worked in dancehalls and bordellos Moral Reformers oppose “sex tourism” seeing the men as the principal problem

  8. United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Prostitution of Others, 1949 • Countries signing the convention promised to punish “any person who, to gratify the passions of another” • Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person • Those who keep or manage brothels

More Related