“You have to remember to do something to make the Pill work”

Hormonelle Verhütung als Körpertechnik zwischen Disziplinierung und Selbstermächtigung

Abstract

English abstract: This paper examines the contraceptive pill as a technological means to shape women’s bodies into reproductive, sexually available, and healthy bodies. Conducting a micro-study of letters-to-the-editor written to Ms. Magazine in 1975, it traces how the technological innovation of contraceptives disciplined reproductive bodies, while at the same time it offered women a chance of empowerment. The availability of reliable contraceptives shaped both society’s and women’s expectations towards reproduction and sexuality, however its side effects put healthy women under a medical surveillance regime. The pill was not only a means of biopolitical intervention; women actively chose to use it to transform their bodies. Risk management introduced new practices of decision-making, since women had to actively seek information and make an informed choice on how to shape their reproductive, sexual, and healthy bodies.