Has The Pill lead to our current amoral, porn-heavy society?

[ViceLikeBlip]

It's probably poor form to slate a programme before uts even been aired, but I just heard a trail in R4 this morning for The Moral Maze (8pm tonight). Michael Beurk talking about the sexual revolution started by the invention of the contraceptive pill, saying it allowed women to choose whether sex was for recreation or reproduction, then talking about our current society - breakdown of marriages, increasingly "sexualised" society, prevalence of porn - and asking "is this really where we wanted to be?"

WTAF??!!! Surely the question should be "60 years on and people (men) are still blaming women for men's actions - is this really where we wanted to be?"

I guess there's a chance that this was a very "clickbaity" trail, and maybe the programme itself will blow all that bullshit out the water? Here's hoping.....

[MiniTheMinx]

Blame the hippies, it all started in California and moved to silicon Valley. Free love and liberalism. Of course the pill facilitated this. Every advance has both positive and negative consequences. You cannot deny this just because you are feeling prickly.

[YourenutsmiLord]

''60 Years of the Contraceptive Pill'

'Michael Buerk chairs a live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories. With Mathew Taylor, Mona Siddiqui, Tim Stanley and Anne McElvoy #moralmaze"

I can't really see what the pill has to do with porn. Different subject altogether.

[CheeseMmmm]

Blame American hippies? It's waaay out of date to blame things on them!

I mean what about commies, migrants, Russia, homosexuals, the Vikings, French cheeses, political correctness, The Poor, loss of hedgerows, Castro, fluoride in tapwater, aliens.....?

And v interested in your persuasive argument that EVERY advance has both positive and negative consequences???

[CheeseMmmm]

What were the negative consequences of. I dunno.

The invention of nit combs?

Or. Sandpaper. Hats. The game croquet.

For example.

[ResentfulAF]

'Immediately, the most basic arguments for treating sexual activity as serious and significant lose much of their force'

Eh?

Only if you don't view women as complex, autonomous people with feelings. It could be treated as serious in its own right as it involves access to another person's body, whether casual or not.

Uncoupling sex from reproduction doesn't inevitably lead you to the hypersexualisation and dehumanisation of women.

Misogyny does that.

That a great leap forward for women's ability to have agency over their lives has been hijacked by horny men who don't see why women can't just be casual fuck holes now is not the fault of women or the pill. It's men's piss poor attitudes.

[Cuck00soup]

Uncoupling sex from reproduction doesn't inevitably lead you to the hypersexualisation and dehumanisation of women.

Misogyny does that.

Exacltly. Perfectly put.

[Kokeshi123]

The pill never really took off in Japan (it was almost impossible to get until about 10 years ago and still has very low usage rates). We have all the usual modern malaises.

[MedusasBadHairDay]

I wonder why the question is whether the pill is to blame and not other forms of contraception, say the condom? I wonder why it's the contraception that gave control to women rather than men that's the problem? What a mystery..

[Abitofalark]

Here is the introduction to the programme which Michael Buerk reads out at the start. I expect it's written by the production team. The topic chosen is one that is current. In part:

"It’s 60 years since the contraceptive pill was made available on the NHS. It has had a revolutionary impact on women’s lives and on society. In 1961 women often married at an early age and many were expected to stay at home and raise a family while men went out to work. The ability for women to have control of their own fertility meant they could choose to have children and a career on their own terms. The availability of the pill undoubtedly changed the nature of sexual relationships, even if it was not the single cause of the sexual revolution. ..."
continued:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00127vn

[GrumpyPanda]

@Kokeshi123

The pill never really took off in Japan (it was almost impossible to get until about 10 years ago and still has very low usage rates). We have all the usual modern malaises.

But that I thought was for very specific reasons? At far as I understood from media coverage at the time it finally got approbation an earlier introduction had been prevented by - I kid you not - the negative campaigning and lobbying by abortion doctors keen not to see their revenue stream shrink.

[ruabon1977]

Video and then the internet, combined with the ending of censorship or restricted access, is to blame for porn, not the Pill or any contraception.

[ginandbearit]

I think the pill removed a very serious defence women had about not having sex and so the expectation from men was that women should be up for it as much as they were . I think a lot of women found a sexual freedom and enthusiasm at first , (which also surprised and then unsettled a lot of men not used to the idea of women having sexual appetites as strong as theirs ) , but the emotional cost is still borne more by women ...yes I know plenty of women can and do have fwb and casual sex, but I do think in general many women "invest" more in sex than men and are vulnerable because of it .

[Naunet]

Michael Beurk talking about the sexual revolution started by the invention of the contraceptive pill, saying it allowed women to choose whether sex was for recreation or reproduction

Has Michael forgotten that marital rape was perfectly legal?

[RobotValkyrie]

Women being able to choose not to become (or remain) pregnant is a fundamental right, in term of bodily autonomy.
How best to achieve this is debatable.

The pill, and other forms of female-controlled contraception, has its benefits. But it's not a panacea. Risks and side effects can be non-negligible (and are often poorly communicated. The fact it is "less risky than pregnancy and childbirth" is no excuse!), and efficacy tends to be overestimated. If you consider failure rates (risk of getting pregnant within a year), over the entire "child-bearing years" of a (hetero)sexually active woman, an unplanned pregnancy is more likely than not at some point.

In other words... "Sex with no consequences" is a lie. And the pill sells that lie. And it has consequences on social expectations: women should be up for casual sex at any time, all pregnancies are planned, etc. Which means it's OK to "punish" single mums for their "poor lifestyle choices".

There's lots of myths and biases and fallacies that derive from a belief in "birth control". Like, conversely, you just need to stop taking the pill to get pregnant... Which means women get pressured (economically, for education/career purposes) into postponing having kids during their most fertile years, and find themselves struggling to conceive later on (and struggling to keep up, energy wise, with the physical demands of their kids). When what we would really need is a society where it is normal and possible (and actively supported) to combine education/career and motherhood.