The Pill ruined the institution of marriage, says Raquel Welch

[Gingersnap]

The Pill ruined the institution of marriage, says Raquel Welch
By Simon Caldwell
Last updated at 10:40 AM on 11th May 2010

Raquel Welch has blamed the Pill for the decline of the institution of marriage. The Hollywood actress said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young.

Miss Welch, 69, said the situation has grown so grave that 'these days nobody seems able to keep it in their pants or honour a commitment'.


Sex symbol: Raquel Welch now aged 69, was voted by readers of Playboy magazine as 'the most desired female of the 1970s'. But she warns that the Pill has created social anarchy

While she argued that it carried some benefits, she said the enduring legacy of the Pill has been social anarchy.

Miss Welch has been a sex symbol since she sprang to international fame for her role in the 1966 film One Million Years BC - and was voted by readers of Playboy magazine as 'the most desired female of the 1970s'.
But in an article to mark the introduction of the Pill to the U.S. market 50 years ago, she distanced herself from the fruits of the sexual revolution of which she was a part.

'The growing proliferation of birth control methods has had an awesome effect on both sexes and led to a sea change in moral values,' she said in an article for television channel CNN entitled 'It's SexO'Clock in America'.

A positive consequence of the Pill was it had 'made it easier for a woman to choose to delay having children until after she established herself in a career', she said.

Miss Welch, who has three failed marriages behind her, added that a 'significant and enduring' effect on women was the idea that they could have sex without any consequences - with the result that fewer today saw marriage as a 'viable option'.

She went on: 'Seriously, folks, if an ageing sex symbol like me starts waving the red flag of caution over how low moral standards have plummeted, you know it's gotta be pretty bad.'

Daily Mail

[linda22003]

Uh-huh. It's the pill's fault. I've taken it, and I've been married for almost 25 years to one man. I don't know if she's taken it, but she's been married four times (so far). Maybe SHE's the problem.

[FlaGator]

Uh-huh. It's the pill's fault. I've taken it, and I've been married for almost 25 years to one man. I don't know if she's taken it, but she's been married four times (so far). Maybe SHE's the problem.

I think that you are missing her point. I also think that you can not judge the entire effect that the pill has had on society based on your personal experience.

[linda22003]

I think that you are missing her point. I also think that you can not judge the entire effect that the pill has had on society based on your personal experience.

Then neither can she.

[linda22003]

I just think it's ludicrous that SHE's lecturing others on honoring commitments, when she's been married for thirty years.... if you count all four guys together!

[Gingersnap]

I see her point. Sex without predictable consequences has made women act like more like single men. They are more willing to be promiscuous, more willing to defer parenthood to the age where it becomes impossible naturally, more willing to see female sexuality reduced to just a commodity, etc.

The possibility of pregnancy puts the brakes on some behaviors that should be taken a lot more slowly (especially for women).

[linda22003]

Whether or not women SHOULD behave like men, I don't buy the "if she's punished with a baby, she'll behave" school of enforced morality.

[fettpett]

ah, but one has to wonder why she got divorced, not that she did. I don't necissarly agree with divorce, but it happens, if she was the cause of the divorces and was cheating in them, then yes she has no room to say anything, but she was the one cheated on than she has every reason to speak out against it.

I'm not take either side, just pointing out how she could speak out against the pill for these reasons

[fettpett]

do have to say, for a 69 yr/old she looks DAMN Fine http://www.askmen.com/women/gallerie...picture-2.html even if she has had plastic surgery

[Gingersnap]

Whether or not women SHOULD behave like men, I don't buy the "if she's punished with a baby, she'll behave" school of enforced morality.

Punished? That's a weird way to look at it. Women are designed to have babies. Now, judicious use of birth control can bring that function under a woman's control as to "when" (and sometimes "if") but the natural consequence of sex is reproduction - for both men and women.