Fifty years ago in the U.K., birth control transformed sex lives, mores

By Produced by BBC World Service
Fifty years ago in the U.K., birth control transformed sex lives, mores
Approximately fifty years ago, "the pill" became widely available to British women for the first time. Courtesy of Public Radio Exchange
Fifty years ago in the U.K., birth control transformed sex lives, mores
Approximately fifty years ago, "the pill" became widely available to British women for the first time. Courtesy of Public Radio Exchange

Fifty years ago in the U.K., birth control transformed sex lives, mores

By Produced by BBC World Service
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On December 4, 1961, the contraceptive pill became widely available for the first time in the United Kingdom. For married women, this meant reliable, convenient family planning. For unmarried women, it meant unprecedented sexual freedom.

The BBC’s Claire Bowes talks to the writer Michelene Wandor, who was a student at Cambridge University in 1961, about this turning point in reproductive health.

This piece orignially aired on the BBC World Service.