A generation ago, the debate over pornography served as a proxy for broader American anxieties about the sexual revolution. That cultural change was made possible by a technological innovation: the birth control pill, which enabled women to separate sex from procreation. The Pill first won approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 1960, and the traditional stigma against porn collapsed soon after. A 1966 Supreme Court ruling held that even “patently offensive” pornographic material was protected by the First Amendment. The decision gave pornographers an imprimatur of free-speech righteousness, and in its wake the industry mushroomed.

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Organizations: Food and Drug Administration