Fifty years ago this week life, as we knew it, was changed. On May 9, 1960 the birth control pill was introduced. Initially it was only prescribed to women who were having menstrual difficulties. It was not legalized for the use of birth control in Canada until 1969.

A number of years ago I was at a seminar. We were divided into the decades of our formative years. We were to list the events, developments and inventions that marked the decade when we came of age. I remember the people who were in the group that were a bit more ‘mature’ than me. The biggest development in their coming of age was the invention of the birth control pill. For them it made for a huge shift from the worry and fear of unwanted pregnancies to control over reproduction.  

The “pill” as it is called (as if there is only one!) has changed dating habits, the cultural expectation around marriage, family size, and sexual relationships. It has given women the opportunity to calculate the timing of reproduction and the number of children they will have.

Every now and then there is a flurry of media reports about the challenges of growing up in our era. Children and youth are confronted with sexual images and innuendo that is more explicit than ever before. Teenagers engage in sexual activity at an earlier age than ever before and walk the mine field of sexual activity in their early teen years. The pill provided liberation for some but brought with it a different kind of worry as sexual relationships now come with a changed set of mores and expectations.

 Like ‘the tree of knowledge’ talked about in Genesis, challenge and responsibility comes with knowledge and risk is never removed from life.

What are some of the developments that have changed how you live your life?