This week I’m back with another Issues post, about a topic that’s been dealt with in a few different ways on the show, from comic to intensely dramatic. It’s an issue with many facets, and an important one for today as well as for the time in which the show is set. More thoughts follow:
The issue of birth control has been brought up on the show in several different ways since series 1, and there’s every indication that the subject will come up again in future episodes. What’s interesting to me is the varying tone of how this topic has been covered. It’s been joked about, as well as being the subject of some of the most dramatic guest plots on the show. It’s fascinating just thinking of the variety of plots and approaches to this subject on this show.
The first time birth control was an issue on the show, it was done in a mostly comic way, with Chummy’s condom demonstration for married women in episode 1x05. This is shown primarily as a “character moment” for Chummy, who has to go out of her comfort zone to present this somewhat awkward demonstration, although the seriousness of the issue is implied as well, and we hear Dr Turner mention the potential religious objections, although we also see Sister Bernadette displaying no qualms whatsoever about the issue when she offers to give the presentation in place of the nervous Chummy. Eventually, Chummy gives the talk and everything works out, but the mothers joke around about it as well. It’s mostly a lighthearted approach to the subject.
The next time it’s brought up as a major plot point is in Nora Harding’s story in 2x05. This time, the topic is treated in a much more serious, nearly tragic tone as it leads to a botched abortion which almost kills Nora. I’ve seen a lot of people mention this story (and Dorothy Whitmore’s in 5x03) as an example of “what happens when abortion is illegal”, and that is definitely a valid point, but as I see it, that’s not the primary message of this story (and arguably, it’s not the *primary* message of Dorothy’s story either, although that message is certainly there, as well). In this story, the primary message seems to be about contraception. If Nora had been able to have reliable, free contraception, she wouldn’t have needed to consider an abortion at all, legal or otherwise (although a safe, legal one would certainly have been a better option than going to Mrs Pritchard). This episode shows the hardships for families who have too many children without being able to afford to care for them, as well as not having an adequate, reliable means of preventing pregnancy. Even though the Pill wasn’t available yet, Nora inquired about getting her tubes tied but was told she couldn’t unless it was deemed “medically necessary”, so the idea of women not having options because other people decide they know what’s best is also there. The voiceover at the end stresses the difference between Nora’s time and that of her daughters in adulthood, when the pill was around and it was much easier to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
The next time birth control is brought up as a major point, it’s in series 5 when the Pill is introduced, and then we see religious reservations brought up again, to a degree, although I still contend that Sister J’s issue was *never* with married women using it (or, by implication, with married couples having sex without making babies). Her issue was about single women using it and creating a culture of “encouraging” casual sex out of the confines of marriage. Still, even though the issue of the Pill was brought up here, it was in more of a theoretical sense, since the Pill wasn’t officially released yet, even though we do get to see some of the realities of life without it–the stigma of out-of-wedlock pregnancy (which, I think, was the main point of the Dorothy Whitmore story in 5x03) and the pressure for couples to get married when an unplanned pregnancy occurs. Then in the subsequent episode (6x08) we see the Turners being disappointed because the Pill is restricted only to married women, although again we don’t see a real case of someone using it. That doesn’t happen until the issue of the Pill is revisited in episode 6x08, with the contraceptive clinic’s being opened at the Community Centre.
6x08 is an interesting episode, because the issue of contraception is treated both seriously and with comedy in two different stories in this episode. In both cases here, the issue is focusing on contraception for married (or very-soon-to-be-married) women. The comic approach is shown with Barbara, who goes to the clinic to get fitted for a diaphragm in preparation for her marriage to Tom. This is treated as somewhat awkward, but a bold step for Barbara. It’s also notable here that Tom, who is a curate, displays no objections to Barbara’s decision (religious or otherwise). There’s some awkwardness in how she tells him, but that seems to be more because of the implications of impending wedding night activities. Still, it makes for some funny scenes but is still seen as a positive thing, and an indication that the Herewards aren’t planning to have babies right away after the wedding, and that there is communication and respect in their relationship. It’s also more of a “modern” decision in that Barbara apparently wants to keep working and not have babies right away.
Barbara’s telling Tom of her appointment at the clinic is a direct contrast to the more dramatic Story of the Week in this episode–Wilma’s. Wilma, who already has three children, wants to go back to work, although her husband wants to have more kids because they only have daughters and he wants a son. So Wilma takes the Pill in secret. She’s also shown not taking it correctly (taking three pills at a time in one scene, and taking it at various times of day). She ends up getting a blood clot and, eventually, a pulmonary embolism, which tragically takes her life. There are a lot of messages here, and there’s been some debate about whether or not it was a good idea to show the first woman shown taking the Pill dying from it, but I think the main idea here is that while contraception is a good thing, the Pill is also medicine that comes with complications, especially if not taken as directed. There’s also a message of the underlying misogyny of the era, because while ideally Wilma should have been able to tell her husband what she was doing, she didn’t feel like she could because she knew he wouldn’t approve. He also seems to just barely tolerate the idea that she wants to go back to work in the first place. The idea that he has to be the main provider (and also that, to him and a lot of men, sons are more important than daughters) creates a condition that makes Wilma feel like she needs to keep secrets from him, which contributes to her health issue as well. In a more modern, ideal situation, she would have been more informed of the potential complications of the drug, and he’d know she was taking it, so both would have been more able to spot the warning signs and seek medical attention when needed. Instead, it’s 1962, the Pill is new and the information about its complications isn’t well communicated, and Wilma feels like she has to hide it from her not-supportive husband so when she does start having issues, neither of them has any clue that something more serious could be going on, and she dies. It’s basically a snowball effect of multiple issues piling up and leading to tragedy.
That’s not the end of the story, though, most likely. This is still early days in terms of the Pill, so I’m sure the issue will be brought up again. It looked to me like the contraceptive clinic was being established as a regular thing at the Community Centre, so I’m guessing it will be a recurring fixture of the show. More women will be seen going there, and I’m sure there will be more stories of different issues that arise because of the Pill and other forms of contraception. There is so much potential for more stories about this issue, and I’m sure there will be positive stories as well as the negative ones. It will be interesting to see when and how this topic gets brought up again. It’s certainly an important issue, and I’m sure it will be revisited more in the future.
