Before birth control, women * (people who could be impregnated, including gender non-conforming individuals and transmen) were, overwhelmingly, excluded from higher education and from the pursuit of fulfilling careers.
Women* were routinely fired at marriage or pregnancy, and pressured to marry men* (persons who could impregnate, including gender non-conforming and transwomen) as their primary means of economic subsistence.
The ability to control whether or not - or when - YOU have a child (eith.