The Birth of a New America in the 1960s

Kenneth A. Messier

The Birth of a New America in the 1960s

December 12, 2010

Part I: The Events of the 1960s that Impacted my Personal Life

The events and issues of the 1960s have impacted my individual life in many different ways. The 1960s was a era of transformation and medical development. There was an important medical advancement from the 1960s that had a major impact on a life close to mine and it was the birth control pill. A female friend of mine had starting taking birth control medication at a young age for several reasons.

The main reason she was using birth control was for the medical benefits. She was in her early twenties when she revealed a lump in her breast and decided to be examined by a physician. I feared it was cancer, but it was only a cyst when the doctor performed a breast ultrasound. The physician explained to my friend that the cyst had the dimensions of a small pea and asked if she was sexually active and on birth control. My friend told the physician she had been sexually active, but was taking precautions by using condoms as birth control. The physician suggested to my friend to start taking birth control and possibly reduce the size of the cyst and delay anymore enlargement. The physician also told my friend that the pill should be used as a support with a condom, because many condoms have been known to rupture. It wasn’t long after that when I convinced my friend to take the birth control pill. The bump in her breast hadn’t grown anymore and wasn’t causing her any pain, as a result of taking birth control pills.

The pill has also prevented my friend from following in her own mother’s footsteps in becoming a young mother herself. Her mother had four children at an adolescent age and gave her education and many other possessions to enable her to raise her children. The pill authorized my friend to be accountable for her actions after she decided to become sexually active. I believe taking birth control has...