Term Paper on Birth Control
During the beginning of the 20th century the use of birth control was as heavily debated as the issue of abortion is today. At the forefront for the advocacy of birth control was Margaret Sanger, a strong willed woman who firmly believed women’s independence, and the health of the nations population was heavily tied to the use of birth control. Sanger’s opposition, Winter Russell felt the use of birth control would be the wrong solution for the nation and instead pushed for married couples at that time to keep having children. It is blatantly obvious after reading the speeches given by Sanger and Russell their ideologies relating to birth control were completely opposite, yet neither Sanger nor Russell’s argument was a strong one.
Although birth control devices had been in use and advertised in America ever since the early 19th century, the national attention it received was nil until Margaret Sanger’s first issue of The Woman Rebel in 1914. In the publication Sanger explained, “Making contraceptive devices available, then, was part of a much larger project of radical social change, embracing the liberation of women and of the working class”(Gorn 105). This is just one statement in the publication that opened many people’s eyes be it for or against birth control. This statement was also the foundation of Sanger’s argument for the use of birth control when debating Winter Russell. In her speech Sanger claims that women were basically “slaves” to men. In many cases this may have been true, but in other cases women may be what would’ve appeared to the outsider to that family as a “slave” to men, by there own free will.
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The meaning behind this is that just as in our time there were many women in Sanger’s day that aspired to become the perfect “housewife”. Many women wanted nothing to do with the hassle of getting a college education or holding down a steady job to support their family. They were content with the job of being a housewife and aspired for that in the same respect that a man might’ve aspired to be a stockbroker. Each job is a noble profession, yet the man who wanted to be a stockbroker would’ve had to continued into to college to reach their goal where as the housewife wouldn’t have needed a college degree. Another point that Sanger brings up in her debate with Russell is the population of “400,000 feeble-minded people in the United States” (Gorn 117). When Sanger states that these mentally retarded people “never should have been born “ it seems as though she was suggesting that birth control would’ve been the miracle to stop each of these births from ever of occurring. If this is the case, then Sanger is correct in the one aspect, that being these “feeble-minded people” never would have been born. However, the neglected factor is mental retardation was/is a hereditary disease that during Sanger’s time could not have been detected through medical testing. So again, Sanger’s argument is vague. Unlike today, to be able to have a healthy baby during Sanger’s day was something medical science could not help with if a couple wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, not every baby born was healthy so I believe it is safe to say that at least 200,000 of the 400,000 would still have been born.
Sanger also refers to the number of syphilis and other venereal diseases that occurred in her time. The problem with this is that with exception to the condom no other method of birth control was capable of preventing the transmission of STD’s.
Winter Russell, Ms. Sanger’s chief rival in the debate over the use of birth control was a man totally against its availability and use. Instead Mr. Russell encouraged people to tighten their family bond and “have more children”. After reading Russell’s speech it is apparent that very little intellectual value can be derived from it. Mr. Russell’s answer over and over again is that the woman should be submissive to the man and the two of them should continue to have more and more children. Just as Ms. Sanger, Russell too made some fairly thoughtless comments, one being, “I believe that a woman who comes to Ellis island and can neither read or write, and has seven to eight children, is worth more to the United States of America than a graduate of Vassar University” (Gorn 119). If a public figure was to make this very same statement today, there is a fairly good chance that he/she might be laughed off of the stage, or possibly beaten considering the current state of Americas literacy and immigration problem. I’m sure that during Russell’s day, many people also read or heard this quote from him and pondered his state of mind.
Although birth control devices had been in use and advertised in America ever since the early 19th century, the national attention it received was nil until Margaret Sanger’s first issue of The Woman Rebel in 1914. In the publication Sanger explained, “Making contraceptive devices available, then, was part of a much larger project of radical social change, embracing the liberation of women and of the working class”(Gorn 105). This is just one statement in the publication that opened many people’s eyes be it for or against birth control. This statement was also the foundation of Sanger’s argument for the use of birth control when debating Winter Russell. In her speech Sanger claims that women were basically “slaves” to men. In many cases this may have been true, but in other cases women may be what would’ve appeared to the outsider to that family as a “slave” to men, by there own free will.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
The meaning behind this is that just as in our time there were many women in Sanger’s day that aspired to become the perfect “housewife”. Many women wanted nothing to do with the hassle of getting a college education or holding down a steady job to support their family. They were content with the job of being a housewife and aspired for that in the same respect that a man might’ve aspired to be a stockbroker. Each job is a noble profession, yet the man who wanted to be a stockbroker would’ve had to continued into to college to reach their goal where as the housewife wouldn’t have needed a college degree. Another point that Sanger brings up in her debate with Russell is the population of “400,000 feeble-minded people in the United States” (Gorn 117). When Sanger states that these mentally retarded people “never should have been born “ it seems as though she was suggesting that birth control would’ve been the miracle to stop each of these births from ever of occurring. If this is the case, then Sanger is correct in the one aspect, that being these “feeble-minded people” never would have been born. However, the neglected factor is mental retardation was/is a hereditary disease that during Sanger’s time could not have been detected through medical testing. So again, Sanger’s argument is vague. Unlike today, to be able to have a healthy baby during Sanger’s day was something medical science could not help with if a couple wanted to start a family. Unfortunately, not every baby born was healthy so I believe it is safe to say that at least 200,000 of the 400,000 would still have been born.
Sanger also refers to the number of syphilis and other venereal diseases that occurred in her time. The problem with this is that with exception to the condom no other method of birth control was capable of preventing the transmission of STD’s.
Winter Russell, Ms. Sanger’s chief rival in the debate over the use of birth control was a man totally against its availability and use. Instead Mr. Russell encouraged people to tighten their family bond and “have more children”. After reading Russell’s speech it is apparent that very little intellectual value can be derived from it. Mr. Russell’s answer over and over again is that the woman should be submissive to the man and the two of them should continue to have more and more children. Just as Ms. Sanger, Russell too made some fairly thoughtless comments, one being, “I believe that a woman who comes to Ellis island and can neither read or write, and has seven to eight children, is worth more to the United States of America than a graduate of Vassar University” (Gorn 119). If a public figure was to make this very same statement today, there is a fairly good chance that he/she might be laughed off of the stage, or possibly beaten considering the current state of Americas literacy and immigration problem. I’m sure that during Russell’s day, many people also read or heard this quote from him and pondered his state of mind.
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