By Krystale E. Littlejohn, assistant professor of sociology
Littlejohn says birth control can be liberating, but preventing pregnancy has also been a historically gendered labor that places more pressure on marginalized communities. "You really can’t talk about the pill and liberation," she says, "without talking about race and class and gender oppression." She argues that there needs to be more social awareness of the shared responsibility of sexual health in the United States. “The state of sexual education in our country … is abysmal," Littlejohn says. "I don’t think we have nearly enough people understanding what equal relationships in sexuality look like."