The Progressive Era was a period of social and political reform beginning in the post Gilded Age 19th century and lasting through WWI. Industrial and urban growth of early 19th century America while representative of opportunity and future advancement simultaneously posed many difficulties for working class citizens. Prior concerns over the conditions of working class citizens were multiplied and magnified by overpopulated and impoverished urban communities. During this era many new Progressive agendas were introduced with the goal of reforming dated and unregulated policies, the most prominent of these, the birth control movement. The documents from chapter six of Constructing the American Past show that at its core, the birth control …show more content…
In document three from The Case for Birth Control Sanger’s rhetoric changes, relying on facts, statistics, and knowledge based reasoning. Document three proves to be a much more reliable and comprehensive argument than document one. Sanger advocates small families for the working class as a means to eliminate poverty (due to large families), illegal abortions, child labor, and to protect the health of women “from overwork and the strain of too frequent child bearing” (6, 3,124) The argument shifts from a pseudo-socialist agenda to simply the right of a woman to control her own body and choose her own destiny. Following the release of The Woman Rebel, Anthony Comstock spearheaded an anti-birth control campaign with the aid of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, “vice” as Comstock described it “intemperance, gambling, and evil reading”(6,1,122). Document 2 is an interview with Comstock by Mary Alden Hopkins of Harper’s Weekly on the issue of birth control and the laws against its distribution and publication. Comstock approaches the birth control issue as a religious zealot, arguing that it is the moral and spiritual obligation of the people to stray from “vice” and practice abstinence as the only means of family planning. Comstock’s conservative rhetoric appealed to the “Victorian” era principles of “self-control” and moral fortitude. Moreover, Comstock employs the ideology of “rule by fear,” by
Margaret Sanger was, at large, a birth control activist, but this speech was more about the questioning of birth control corrupting morality in women. People must remember, in the day and age
"A free race cannot be born" and no woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother"(Sanger A 35). Margaret Sanger (1870-1966)said this in one of her many controversial papers. The name of Margaret Sanger and the issue of birth control have virtually become synonymous. Birth control and the work of Sanger have done a great deal to change the role of woman in society, relationships between men and woman, and the family. The development and spread of knowledge of birth control gave women sexual freedom for the first time, gave them an individual
In the mid-1800s American women united to participate in social reforms movements more than ever before. This movement’s involved: struggle to abolish slavery, outlaw alcohol, and ban child labor among others (Rupp, 1987). Despite the failure of the women's movement to attain one among its primary goals, the passage of the ERA , the movement overall accomplished an excellent deal. For several women activists, management over their bodies was a central issue in the campaign. Women needed to be liberated to explore and control their gender, while not being judged by society. An oversized a part of management during this arena concerned having access to birth control, or contraception ways (Fishman, 1998). The contraception pill, associate inoculant,
Founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, in her speech at the 1925 birth control conference, The Children’s Era, explains the downfalls in American society when it comes to raising children. Through this speech, Sanger is trying to further promote her nonprofit organization and display the benefits of birth control. She appears to show compassionate characteristics towards children, more specifically the future American children, as she adopts an urgent tone to encompass her listeners into her ultimate goal, widespread, effective birth control methods.
Regardless of one’s views on the topic of contraception, Margaret Sanger’s Woman and the New Race helped to break new ground through encouraging women to take control of their bodies. Early in her writing, Sanger brings up overpopulation and how women’s primary role as mothers have contributed to this issue. “While unknowingly laying the foundations of tyrannies and providing the human tinder for racial conflagrations, woman was also unknowingly creating slums, filling asylums with insane, and institutions with other defectives. She was replenishing the ranks of the prostitutes, furnishing grist for the criminal courts and inmates for prisons. Had she planned deliberately to achieve this tragic total of human waste and misery, she could hardly have done it more effectively.” This artfully formed passage shows the passion behind Sanger’s beliefs. While on the surface it may seem that she is attacking women, the point of her idea is to frame the passive nature of women in Western Society up to this point.
In the midst of the Progressive Era Margaret Sanger Contributed her life career to the legalization of birth control. In the 1900’s women had no voice in how many children they wanted, often forced to endure over 9 child labors. She contributed to America by having birth control, a now legal Running head: MARGARET SANGER 4 drug to prevent pregnancy in women. For example, “Margaret Sanger was a pioneering feminist who advocated the right of women to control their bodies sexually and reproductively. She educated women about contraception and worked tirelessly for its legalization”
Today, the availability of birth control is taken for granted. There was a time, not long passed, during which the subject was illegal (“Margaret Sanger,” 2013, p.1). That did not stop the resilient leader of the birth control movement. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and women’s activist. While working as a nurse, Sanger treated many women who had suffered from unsafe abortions or tried to self-induce abortion (p.1). Seeing this devastation and noting that it was mainly low income women suffering from these problems, she was inspired to dedicate her life to educating women on family planning—even though the discussion of which was highly illegal at the time (p.1). She was often in trouble with
The early twentieth century was a turning point in American history-especially in regards to the acquisition of women's rights. While the era was considered to be prosperous and later thought to be a happy-go-lucky time, in actuality, it was a time of grave social conflict and human suffering (Parish, 110). Among those who endured much suffering were women. As Margaret Sanger found out, women, especially those who were poor, had no choice regarding pregnancy. The only way not to get pregnant was by not having sex- a choice that was almost always the husband's. This was even more true in the case of lower-class men for whom, 'sex was the poor man's only luxury' (Douglas, 31). As a nurse who assisted in delivering
Many also believed it was the man’s decision as to how many children his wife should have. Sanger continued her quest opening a birth-control clinic in Brooklyn, New York, in 1916; one year later, the authorities arrested her for giving contraceptives to immigrant women (Bowles, 2011). At first glance it appears that Sanger had good intentions. “Others criticized her for involvement with eugenics, which was a scientific movement in which its practitioners advocated the notion that all mental and physical "abnormalities" were linked to hereditary and, with selective breeding, could be eliminated. They questioned whether or not Sanger's insistence on birth control and abortion was in fact a way to limit the growth of ethnic populations” (Bowles, 2011). “Of course, her activism put her directly at odds with law-enforcement officials and the Catholic Church, but little discussed is the actual extent to which her early Marxism guided much of what she managed to achieve. Her good friends included ultra-radicals like John Reed and Emma Goldman, and the truth is that Margaret’s feminism, and her support for eugenic ‘sexual science’, were both simply part-and-parcel of her own unique Marxist vision. Humanitarianism, per se, had little to do with what motivated Margaret Sanger” (Spooner, 2005). Sanger’s actions and motivations are a controversial topic that have been analyzed and debated for years. “According to her New York Times obituary,
The Birth Control Movement of 1912 in the United States had a significant impact on Women’s Reproductive Rights. Women in the 1800s would frequently die or have complications during or after childbirth. Even if the woman would have died, they would still have a great amount of children. As the years progressed into the 1900s, the amount of children being born dropped. Because of this, birth control supplements were banned, forcing women to have a child that she was not prepared for or did not want to have in the first place.
The arrival of the pill in the spring of 1960 represented both an important step towards bodily autonomy for women, and a ‘new era in the long history of birth control’. For the very first time, there would exist a method of contraception that separated brith control from the act of sexual intercourse, and allowed women total control over their fertility. This caused many commentators to fear that the pill would ‘wreck moral havoc’ on the sexual behaviour of the nation, with some even going as far as to claim that it would lead to adultery and the destruction of the ‘nuclear family’. It was, after all, overwhelmingly mothers who rushed to fill their prescriptions when the pill hit the market at the peak of the baby boom. However, other parties claimed that the pill would cure the ‘social, sexual and political ills of the day… The pill was, bearing in mind the military metaphors that permeated the Cold War, the ‘magic bullet’ that would avert the explosion of the ‘population bomb’.’ By reducing the population, they argued, the pill would alleviate the conditions of poverty that so often seemed to lead to an embrace of communism among ‘third world’ nations. The pill would also booster the nuclear family with the promise of marital bliss, and would foster happy families along the way. ‘As one euphoric husband gushed; ‘with my wife on the pill, any moment is the right moment for love!’. In the eyes of its champions, the pill would be a powerful asset in the fight to maintain
Oral contraceptive has been a controversial topic for years. Oral contraceptives are a common form of birth control. Birth control is used to prevent pregnancy by blocking a male’s sperm from fertilizing a female’s egg. Women take birth control to prevent pregnancy. Also, teen women can prevent unwanted pregnancies by having access to over the counter birth control pills. Birth control pills should be available without a prescription.
The Center for Disease Control conducted a study on contraceptive use; their findings concluded “four out of five women have used birth control pills” during one point of their lives (Basset). Birth control pills have been around for over six decades, and their popularity has significantly increased during the past decade. Thousands of sexually-active women are turning to birth control pills as a way to prevent unplanned pregnancy, regulate periods, and to control acne. Nonetheless, birth control pills are synthetic hormones that influence the female body in severe ways. In fact, doctors and media are not presenting the menaces of consuming birth control pills in women; instead, they disguise the risks with commercials of synchronized
The arrival of the pill in the spring of 1960 heralded a new era in the long history of birth control, and it signalled an important, modern step towards bodily autonomy for women. For the first time there existed a method of contraception that separated birth control from the act of sexual intercourse, while having a nearly one hundred percent success rate. When the pill hit the market, at the peak of the baby boom, it was overwhelming mothers who rushed to get it. While some commentators feared that the pill would wreak havoc on morals and sexual behaviour (some even going as far to say that it would lead to adultery), others claimed that it would cure the social, sexual and political ills of the day. It was (bearing in mind the military metaphors that permeated the Cold War) the ‘magic bullet’ that would avert the explosion of the ‘population bomb’. By reducing the population, the pill would alleviate the conditions of poverty that led so many to embrace communism. It would also bolster the nuclear family with the promise of marital bliss, and in doing so, it would foster happy families - the key to social order. As one euphoric husband gushed, ‘With my wife on the pill, any moment is the right moment for love!’
Around the time of the debate World War I had occurred and necessities for bodies was crucial which would lead to weakness in the soldiers. More children meant there were more bodies to fight and build during the War. In the debate Margaret Sanger argues how America constantly states that child labor will be diminished and won’t succeed unless they establish birth control clinics in order to obtain pregnancies. Kristie Yasunari continues by stating how Margaret Sanger is very involved with birth control awareness, “Margaret saw first hand that all babies were not born equal. Some were born wanted, while others were not. Some were born handicapped, others perfectly normal. Some had parents who were handicapped. Some mothers were worn from age, others from numerous pregnancies.” Before and during the debate most children were not wanted nor accepted and were brought into a horrible life because they were neglected. Other children were born with disability which come with more responsibilities for the parents or the other way around the parent is sick and the chance of them surviving a pregnancy would be very low. In the debate Winter Russell states that sex control is key to wisdom, power intellectual and mental development, one must pay the price of their own action. If men wanted pleasure they would have to deal with the results of having an undesired child. Margaret Sanger knew with birth control undesirable life or unhealthy life could be prevented instead of