DanMargarita.com

Another anniversary being marked this year is the 30th anniversary of the “Post-It” note, presumably by someone who wanted to be sure to reminded to take The Pill.

According to an article in The L.A. Times marking The Pill’s 50 birthday…uh, anniversary, “It is given to cut the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer in high-risk women; to alleviate abnormally heavy or painful periods; to fight anemia; to stabilize mood; even to clear up acne.” Had I known this, I would’ve taken the pill in junior high (for the acne, not the heavy periods).

The Times also notes that The Pill “was supposed to make every child a wanted child,” which was also the goal of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover.

Ironically, the anniversary of The Pill fell on Mother’s Day. Then again, that’s perhaps not as ironic as it may seem, since one of the driving forces behind was Women’s Suffragette legend Margaret Sanger, who early in the 20th century saw her mother die young after giving birth to 11 children, and believe it or not, her mom did not commit suicide after having 11 children.

The first pill put on the market was called Enovid. This was a far different pill than what is available today. The amount of estrogen in Enovid was 150 micrograms, compared with 25 to 30 micrograms in the modern pill, meaning that the first generation of women to use The Pill were the guinea pigs to make it safe for today’s generation of women to use The Pill safely. As a bachelor, I just want to say thank you, ladies.

Unfortunately, the result of this high level of estrogen “raised the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and strokes” and that “women who smoked had an even higher risk of side effects,” says The Times.

So, I suppose the urge to “light up a cigarette” afterwards was replaced with an urge to call an ambulance.

The Pill was initially only available to married women who were trying to limit the size of their family. It wasn’t until 1972 that Massachusetts overturned a law banning The Pill being prescribed to single women, who were presumably trying to limit the size of their family to zero.

In a way, it’s too bad that Boston Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemsky, known most popularly, as “Yaz” was never given a chance to promote the birth control device Yaz in the prime of his career.

“Hello, I’m Yaz. Because my wife doesn’t want to have any more little Yaz’, she uses Yaz, so she won’t have to stay away from Yaz.”

While The Pill has made the notion of worry-free sex available for women (and couples), the advent of Viagra and other such medicines has hopefully made women more aware of birth control options. Viagra is sort of like baseball’s Designated Hitter rule…it allows sluggers to extend their careers a lot longer (seemed like an appropriate analogy after all of the Yaz talk).

The Pill was also the first birth control method whose use didn’t involved any action be taken in the heat of the moment, if you know what I mean.

The Times states “estimated 12 million American women take the pill today” and noting the previous non-birth related benefits, look for acne-free, happy, non-cramping women, and you’ll likely find a woman taking The Pill.

While The Pill is the most effective birth control method, it is not 100 percent successful. When The Pill is used “perfectly,” one in 100 women will still get pregnant. These are undoubtedly the unluckiest women on the planet.

As usual, The Pill puts the onus on the woman to control the birth control. There has yet to be a pill invented for men that will prevent pregnancy.

That’s a big relief to me in a way, as I would look terrible in maternity clothes.

A PERSONAL NOTE----Condolences to the family of Frankie “Skeeter” Muolo, whose passing was all too soon. Skeeter was a good guy with a good heart, who caught some bad breaks.