Mad Men

The 50th anniversary of the contraceptive pill has been much discussed, and women of the generation that obtained ‘the pill’ in its earliest days have been telling how they had to pretend they were married or had a fiancé.

A brief fictionalised account of this era was given in one of the earliest episodes of the nuanced television series, Mad Men, set at around this time in New York. The single Peggy has been tipped off by her colleague Joan about a gynaecologist who will give her contraception. We find Peggy in a hospital gown sitting on the doctor's couch, studying an information booklet entitled ‘It's Your Wedding Night’. The cover has a picture of a bride in full regalia, carried in the arms of her groom.

The doctor enters the room, lights up a cigarette and puffs. “I see from your chart – and your finger – that you're not married.” “That's right”, responds the nervous Peggy. Her doctor recommences in a way that gives us some hope for Peggy: “I'm not here to judge you – nothing wrong with a woman being practical about the possibility of sexual activity. Although as a doctor I would like to think that putting a woman into this position will not turn her into some kind of a strumpet”. Hopes dashed – and by this time he is inserting a speculum. “I will warn you now that I will take you off this medicine if you abuse it. It's for your own good really. The fact is, even in our modern times, easy women don't find husbands.” Peggy assures him she is responsible. He gives her the prescription, saying: “They are eleven dollars a month, so don't think you have to go out to become the town pump just …