What 'The Pill' did CNN
(CNN) -- It was 50 years ago that the U.S. FDA approved the birth control pill, an anniversary the agency is celebrating this Sunday, which (coincidentally?) happens to be Mother's Day. Here are a range of opinions CNN.com gathered on the significance of The Pill's introduction, and the cultural ripples it set in motion.
Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a founding editor of Ms. Magazine, a founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, and the author of nine books, most recently the novel, Three Daughters.
In 1962, when I was a 22-year-old Holly Golightly-wannabe living in Greenwich Village with my dog and my motor scooter, two events had a seismic effect on my life. Helen Gurley Brown wrote Sex and the Single Girl, and my doctor at the time (Shepard Aronson, who would become one of the first male members of the National Organization for Women) wrote me a prescription for The Pill.
Each in its way was transformative. Brown's book, which was both frisky and practical, acknowledged what millions had known but denied -- that nice girls "did it" and sometimes even enjoyed it, and that sex need not lead to marriage. In 1962, this was considered shocking.
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Tampabay.comDeceased dog in running for 'unusual' pet insurance claim awardTampa TribuneScooter the Siamese (San Clemente, Calif.). While Scooter was being prepped for an MRI, a veterinary technician discovered the unlikely cause of her Among weird pet insurance claims, will Pasco dog's bite of sea all 5 news articles »
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Globe and MailTV star's ride is Border-line plainGlobe and MailSchool girls used to mock him for his 1985 Honda scooter Globe and Mail Update Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009 03:33AM EDT He was a star on stage
