Three Defining Events after WW-II - Essay Example

It was a pill that contains estrogen and progestin. It was introduced (approved for contraceptive use) to the United States market back in 1960 and immediately triggered a huge social change in the way people viewed sex. It had a profound impact on how men and women treat each other as well. Prior to the birth control pill, social roles for men and women were very well defined (Brandon, 2010, p. 69). The adult male was the alpha person in the household and the sole individual who can decide on crucial matters such as employment, schooling of the kids, purchase of a house or car, and the other things usually reserved for the head of the house. The adult female was expected to be docile and obedient as the housewife and takes care of the home nest and the children while the man goes off to work and brings food to the table. The pill freed the people from their usual social constraints as women became more assertive about their reproductive rights and also demanded a right to abortion. It also led to sexual permissiveness and promiscuity.

Civil Rights Movement – the demand by black Americans for equal rights had a big effect on how people today treat each other. Prior to the movement, racial discrimination was an accepted way of life and was the cause of the US civil war which almost split the American nation some centuries earlier. The Civil Rights Movement included their demands for a right to vote, an official end to racial discrimination in various aspects of daily life such as in jobs, housing, education and health care, among many other discriminatory acts and practices. The set of liberal reforms implemented were intended to eliminate poverty due to racial inequality and considered as a political watershed in American life (Milkis & Mileur, 2005, p. 365).

Bretton Woods Agreement – this important economic agreement established the world order in international trade to prevent disputes which were considered as indirect causes of the World War II. It also put up global financial institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. More importantly, it provided for the groundwork of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs or GATT that produced many trade agreements and later the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Conclusion
The birth control pill caused the rise of feminism. The feminist movement emphasized the independence of women from men and led to the war of the sexes. It also caused a decline of marriage as a stable social institution and a rise in the divorce rates, teen pregnancies and single motherhood or parenthood (McKay, 1998, p. 44). The Civil Rights movement showed how peaceful persistence can pay off in the demand for equal political and civil rights for all people not only in the United States but even in other places such as South Africa in ending a racially-based social system such as apartheid (Williams & Beard, 2009, p. 147). The legacy of the Bretton Woods is realization that a liberalized international economic and trade system can enhance the chances for understanding and peace among nations. This had given rise to the WTO and the current Doha Round of Talks in Qatar (www.gatt.org, 1999, p. 1).

Read More