SEXUAL CHEMISTRY: A History of the Contraceptive Pill

Often regarded as "one of the most important landmarks of the twentieth century," the contraceptive pill has achieved both more and less than its original—early 20th-century—advocates had hoped. Medical historian Marks, a senior lecturer at Imperial College, University of London, shows how concerns about population growth, along with the West's post-WWII faith in scientific progress, led to the century's first "designer" or "lifestyle" drug. She explains how new developments in chemistry and the discovery of hormone-yielding wild plants made birth control pill research possible, and why it took so long to develop. She also shows how cultural factors affected women's eagerness—or reluctance—to try the new method of contraception. Though much criticism has been leveled at the medical establishment for rushing the pill to market without sufficient testing, Marks points out that experimental protocols were vague during this period, and argues that contraceptive researchers were stymied by the difficulties of testing the pill outside of strictly controlled lab conditions. Marks is evenhanded in her treatment of sensitive issues, such as the Black Power movement's perception of birth control as racist, and the Catholic Church's theological objections. Though the pill has proved too expensive for widespread use in developing countries, where some had hoped it would curb population growth, it has been embraced by middle-class women and has made possible career and lifestyle choices we now take for granted. Extensively researched and clearly written, this book will be essential reading in the fields of women's studies and the history of science. (June)