Title:
The great emancipator? : the impact of the birth-control pill on married women in English Canada, 1960-1980
Creator:
Haynes, Jessica Joanne
Date Created:
2012
Degree Awarded:
Doctor of Philosophy
Subjects:
Physiology
Geographical Focus:
Canada
Supporting Materials:
n/a
Description:
‘Beginning in 1961, Canadian women could take a pill and, provided they did so reliably, achieve almost perfect control of their fertility. The pill is rightly understood by many to be one of the most important discoveries of the &entieth céntury‘. It is often credited with unleashing a sexual revolution among single women, permitting many of them td engage in premarital sex. However, the experience of married women, for whom the pill was intended, has often been overlooked. Particularly in Canada, the historical scholarship on the pill, which is at present rather limited, focuses on unmarried women. Drawing primarily on oral testimony, iny thesis explores the complex impact of the pill on English-Canadian women who started it in the 1960s when married or engaged. By tracing a woman’s journey on the pill from the moment she heard about it to some of its more long-term ramifications, I demonstrate that the pill was deeply significant, if not always in positive ways, in the lives of married, Canadian women.
Source
Preferred Citation:
Haynes, Jessica Joanne. 2012. "The great emancipator? : the impact of the birth-control pill on married women in English Canada, 1960-1980", Department of History, Carleton University
Link to this page:
https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_99.html
Rights
Rights:
Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.