Birth control is approved by the FDA in 1960. This event is interesting to the hisory behind the painting The Woman in the Sun because it highlights the specific kind of subject that Edward is likely portraying here. When we think of the time before the 1960's, there is this pressure or stigma for women to be the perfect housewife. Even in the wake of the second World War, we see encouragement for women to return to the house and their originally defined "role" within it. Although this is still something pushed at this time in 1960, we see a slight shift to the housewife for a bit more freedom; only freedom that fits with the husband's role of his wife, however. This includes things like the idea of the Mrs. Degree becoming popular and this birth control approval. When thinking about the painting, we look at a woman who stands in a sparse room. There is hardly anything in the room to give us a look into her life, but in this absence, we can infer that the absence can extend into her personal relationships. There is only a single bed in the room, which is not nearly enough space for two people to have slept there commonly. The only sign of clothing is a pair of heels next to the bed, without any sign of a counterparts clothing to possibly explain her state of dress. There is a movement here that he suggests that she is not married, something that at the time was no incredibly likely to see. Especially since a lot of the income still lied with the man of the house, possibly explaining the sparseness of the room as she has no access to such. This woman may be using the recently approved birth control, meaning she can stand to wait to marry- if at all.