Samira K. Mehta -- "God Bless the Pill," with Phoebe Young

Samira K. Mehta will speak about and sign her new book, "God Bless the Pill," at Boulder Bookstore, in conversation with Phoebe Young.
About this Event

Samira K. Mehta will speak about and sign her new book, God Bless the Pill: The Surprising History of Contraception and Sexuality in American Religion, on Wednesday, September 23rd at 6:30pm, at Boulder Bookstore. She will be in conversation with Samira K. Mehta for this special event.


About the Book:

Most people today understand contraception as central to women's liberation, and when the birth control pill arrived in 1960, the media thought it would usher in a sexual revolution. But a surprising number of religious Americans in the mid-twentieth century also saw contraception as part of God's plan--a tool to create happy, prosperous American families in the post-World War II era.

In God Bless the Pill, Samira K. Mehta traces the remarkable story of how mid-twentieth-century Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish voices promoted the use of birth control and made it more accessible for many Americans. They hoped birth control methods would curb divorce rates by encouraging sexually dynamic marriages and families unstrained by "too many" children--thereby creating a postwar upwardly mobile middle class. Religious leaders also promoted this understanding of the family as tied to Cold War capitalism and encouraged neither racial nor gender equity.

But then came the backlash, both from the Right--which failed to anticipate the feminist potential of contraception--and from the Left, where women, particularly women of color, sought to ensure that birth control was a tool of liberation rather than one rooted in patriarchal and racial oppression. Ultimately, Mehta offers compelling new insights into the way religion accommodates itself to social, technological, and medical change.

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IMPORTANT TICKETING AND EVENT INFORMATION

• Tickets are $5 (plus a small processing fee).
• A coupon good for $5 off a copy of God Bless the Pill, or a purchase on the day of the event is included with your ticket. You will receive this coupon at the event.
• Please note: our events are held on the second floor. To request a reasonable accommodation or discuss your needs, contact [email protected]