Dorothea Kerr's Arguments On The Pill

As another way to perpetuate the belief that women are only valuable for their bodies, in 1970 Vogue Magazine proclaimed that the pill may cause women to gain weight. The article begins with an anecdote from a doctor describing a situation in which one of his patients diets and attempts to lose weight, but “she bursts into tears” when she checks the scale and notices she has gained five pounds. Furthermore, the article goes on to state that most women gain three to five pounds after starting the pill. However, “Women should be warned when they first go on the Pill that they are liable to be hungrier and they should diet rather strenuously” [cite]. Through the story describing a woman bursting into tears when she notices she has gained weight,

In a Vogue article from 1974 titled “Look better, feel better – can hormones help,” Dorothea Kerr reveals that hormonal treatment — such as the pill — can help relieve the effects of menopause. Kerr states that menopause has psychological effects on women, but that hormonal treatment can cure them. These psychological ailments include crying, loneliness, and anxiety, causing many women to have “a need for babying.” Moreover, women may also become angry and intolerant, often lashing out against their husbands. With this, “marital resentments and conflicts may come to the fore and… the couple may turn to divorce” [cite all of this]. However, “the administration of external estrogen can have a calming effect and produce a feeling of normal well-being” [cite]. So, as implied by Vogue, if women take the pill, their mood will be balanced out and their marriage will be salvaged. Again, rather than mentioning that the pill can allow women to create a liberated life for themselves, Vogue uses the pill as a way for women to please their husbands. Without using any examples of the pill helping women achieve a professional career, Vogue prolongs the idea that women are only good for the domestic sphere. Moreover, this article articulates that women are not supposed to be emotional and undergo the natural side effects of menopause. Although

Due to this growth in the divorce rate, Vogue attempted to demonstrate to woman how they can continue to stay young and beautiful in order to maintain a healthy relationship. Women entering the work force was a pivotal factor in the increased divorce rates, and the birth control pill allowed women to pursue professional jobs. Before women made their own money, they were often stuck in marriages because the husband had economic leverage. However, as women were able to work for wages and establish themselves, they were able to leave abusive relationships. But instead of focusing on how the pill can allow women to enter the professional field and escape toxic relationships, Vogue focused on how the pill will allow women to keep their husbands happy. By telling women that the pill can better complexion and reduce the effects of menopause, Vogue is telling women how to keep their husbands even as they get older. Rather than using the pill as a medium for women’s liberation, Vogue highlights its uses to continue the oppression of women in the domestic