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The impact of the female rights movement
The impact of the female rights movement
Womens rights over the last 100 years
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Margaret Sanger: Revolutionary Advocate for Women’s Sexual Freedom
One of the most important roles that a nurse fulfills as a responsibility of the profession is the advocate. Nurses are responsible to provide the information needed for a patient to make a decision and consequently support that decision. Margaret Sanger was one of the most influential advocates for women’s health and sexual health in general. Margaret Sanger was a public health nurse in New York who noticed that there was a significant problem in the way that women were treated within the healthcare system. Through her efforts she started what is today known as Planned Parenthood, defeated laws preventing the distribution of contraceptives and information regarding contraceptives,
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and helped aid the development of the first birth control pill. In 1912 while working as a nurse in New York, Sanger became fed up with repeatedly treating patients who had ill effects after improvised abortions. She became determined to help empower women to understand that they have a right to be the “absolute mistress of her own body.” Margaret Sanger saw a need for education in the matters of sexual health and contraception to free women of the inequality of the sexual experience. In 1873 the Comstock Law was passed in an effort to suppress the trade and circulation of materials deemed offensive. This was to include sex toys, erotica, contraceptives or any information regarding these items deemed offensive. The fight against this law proved to be the biggest challenge of her life. Her first encounter with censorship occurred in 1913. In 1912 she was asked to write a column entitled, “What Every Girl Should Know.” In these articles she was quite candid in her writing which at the time drew criticism from people who called it vulgar. In one article she covered the topic of venereal disease which was deemed offensive and was suppressed by the paper. It was shortly after this that she decided to challenge the Comstock Law and in an effort to do so, she published “The Woman Rebel.” In this publication she called for women to use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Of the seven issues published, five were suppressed by postal authorities. Even after the denial by the postal service, Sanger continued to print and distribute the rejected issues of the publication. As a result, she was indicted for violating the obscenity laws. While on bail, Sanger fled to England to avoid possibly being imprisoned for up to 20 years. During her time in Europe she traveled to many different countries to gain an understanding on their views on contraception. During her time there she learned about diaphragms, which she believed would be a much better method of contraceptive than the practice of douching. Upon her return to the United States she began to have diaphragms imported, once again defying the Comstock Law. In 1916 Sanger opened the first American birth control clinic in the United States. Nine days later the clinic was raided, shut down, and the employees were arrested because of the distribution of the diaphragms. Sanger served 30 days in the workhouse for this arrest but it wasn’t for nothing. As a result of the attention brought to the issue from the arrest the law was changed so that doctors could prescribe birth control to women when medically appropriate. This allowed for Sanger to begin a system of birth control distribution which connected her to several different influential people. Through these connections to wealthy and influential people, Margaret Sanger was able to help propel the development of the first birth control pill.
Since 1912 Sanger had dreamed of a pill that would provide cheap, safe, and effective contraception. In 1951 Margaret Sanger met Dr. Gregory Pincus, a biologist whose expertise was in the field of fertility. Planned Parenthood Federation of America provided a grant to research the effect of progesterone on ovulation. Dr. Pincus’ research supported earlier findings that progesterone acts as an inhibitor to ovulation. With these findings, Margaret Sanger was able to convince Katherine McCormick, a wealthy heiress, to provide the funding for Dr. Gregory Pincus to develop the first birth control …show more content…
pill. After this landmark decision, Sanger separated herself from politics for a while and instead did her best to build a base of support for the birth control movement. She traveled the world learning about their practices, speaking about western culture, and educating as many women as possible about current methods of contraception. This would be an important time for the cause because a following developed which enabled her to create support for change in the current legislation on birth control. Today in the healthcare setting, nurses are able to provide a vast amount of information to female patients about contraceptive measures, and sexual health.
In today’s practice there are several options to consider for contraception. Multiple different birth control pills, intrauterine devices, vaginal rings, implants, and injections are viable options. The development of the first oral contraceptive A male non-hormonal contraceptive polymer is in the process of gaining approval which will empower men to have equal say and responsibility in preventing pregnancies outside of the use of prophylactics. The impact of Margaret Sanger’s activism is reflected outside of birth control measures in today’s medical practice. Sexually transmitted diseases and infections have been a serious problem for a significant amount of time. However, the efforts of Margaret Sanger along with others has impacted how society approaches sexual education and testing. Programs such as Planned Parenthood and the general acceptance of birth control measures have changed the nursing process greatly and in general, the way we live
today.
The first primary source I chose was written by Margaret Sanger. Margaret was a white woman that came from a working class family. She also had a very strong background in being an advocate for women's rights to birth control. Sanger even lander herself in jail for giving contraceptives to women. Margaret’s background with birth control might have influenced her writings because she had a first hand experience with the subject. This source is informative and the intended audience is for all women. Knowing that the audience is directed toward woman helps me know what perspective to look at her writing. The document is about woman’s freedom over her body. The document talks about how women
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 where Sanger presented this speech, November 1921, women were considered very far from equal and much closer to servants or maids. In her speech, I saw that ethos was present in the sense that she gave herself credibility. Through Sanger’s detailed words and actions, and her statements including the presence of scientists and, or, professionals, the masses of listening people could infer that she was very well informed and solid in her statements. Though she presented herself as agreeable, Sanger was firm in her beliefs. In addition, Sanger says, “We desire to stop at its source the disease, poverty and feeble-mindedness and insanity which exist today, for these lower the standards of civilization and make for race deterioration. We know that the masses of people are growing wiser and are using their own minds to decide their individual conduct” (Sanger, par.15). To me, Sanger made herself appeal to the audience by using the word ‘we.’ In the practice of ethos, this focused on the author more than...
...still a vital part of world today. Planned Parenthood is not segregated to color or affluence and has definitely changed the world as we know it today. Margaret Sanger though a determined selfish women did not get everything the way she wanted it to be. She hung up fliers in immigrant neighborhoods just so the poor or colored would go to the clinic. She wanted these people to go to the birth control clinics so they couldn’t reproduce. Margaret believed that if you couldn’t support the family you already have you shouldn’t have more children and she was a strong believer that the inferior race should not be able to reproduce. All of Mrs. Sanger’s actions said more then what her voice said. Margaret Sanger was a powerful strong woman who was celebrated as an advocate of women’s rights; however her motives were for all the wrong reasons.
"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 identity in society and a chance to work without fearing they were contributing to the moral decline of society by leaving children at home. If birth control and Sanger did so much good to change the role of women in society why was birth control so controversial?
Margaret Sanger was the founder of The American League of Birth Control which later became Planned Parenthood and her argument in those times was that it was not fair for women who were from a lower class could not have access to Birth Control.
Both sources approach an issue from a different demographic, the married young housewife and the of age generation in the roaring twenties respectively. If we compare intent, we see Sanger's is a politically motivated piece seeking empathy compared to what appears to be a balanced study from New Girls for Old. Therefore the more representative source is that of the uninfluenced survey, while we can't discount that they are selectively chosen; in comparison to Sanger's selected testimonials are likely the most pressing and emotive letters written to her. This contrasting factor of intent also leads to their influence varying, as Engelman presents it was Sanger's pivotal activist role that when combined with the radicals, socialites and professionals that led to the successive progress of the birth control movement as one of the few women led social movements i...
This article was my least favorite article out of these set of readings. The author explains how much pain and suffering women went thought before and during the 1930’s. Being a mother and a wife women went thought a lot due to the lack of resources. Margret Sanger explains how women are having risk pregnancies which cause them to become ill. Women wanted ways to stop having babies. However the doctors were basically saying it was not up to the husband. Overall I agree with Sanger, women should be informed of contraception and their bodies.
The Roaring Twenties were known as a time of economic boom, pop culture and social developments. This was a time when women began to break norms, they acted rebelliously such as wearing releveling clothing, smoking, and drinking. These women were known as “flappers” who wanted to change their roles in the 1920’s. Birth control activist, Margaret Sanger sought to change the world where women had access to a low cost, effective contraception pill. In “The Morality of Birth Control” Sanger battled opponents who claimed that contraception would cause women to become immoral. The author uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and fallacies to back up her claim while touching on issues in the church, advancements of women, and the source of disease in the world.
Margaret Sanger’s monthly publication The Woman Rebel released its first issue in 1914, creating a nationwide dispute concerning the publication and distribution of birth control devices. However, Sanger’s initial goal went beyond simply legalizing the distribution of contraceptives; her aim was to create “radical social change, embracing the liberation of women and of the working class” (6, 1.120). In document one, the essay “Why the Woman Rebel?” Sanger makes a strong political statement on the social implications of legalizing birth control. Drawing heavily from the plight of the working class Sanger makes her case on the grounds that the legalization of birth control is the first step to the liberation of the disenfranchised working class at the hands of capitalism. The essay is a rebellious prose intended to inspire “revolt”, a call to arms for the case for birth control. Later in Sanger’s care...
Sanger, one of the pioneers of modern birth control, founded Planned Parenthood which was an
Margaret Sanger was determined to help women by providing necessary information to prevent pregnancy. In the movie Choices of The Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story, Margaret is fighting for women’s rights to control their own bodies by preventing pregnancies that are often times dangerous. Fighting against Comstock laws that ban the distribution of contraceptive information, Margaret works as a nurse in the early 1900’s and faces many obstacles in her journey.
The first form of birth control came in the form a pill and was approved by the FDA in 1960(qtd in Gladwell ) The pill was said to be the safest form of birth control because it was safe and said to be a natural form of birth control. John Rock was a well know man around the community. Loretta McLaughlin writes, "It was his name and his reputation that gave ultimate validity to the claims that the pill would protect women against unwanted pregnancy.”(qdt in Gladwell) Even back then, with all the research that they set out to do the pill was still know to cause cancer in young women, not only cancer but the miscarrying of children shortly after taking the pill.
During the early 1900s, American nurse Margaret Sanger led the birth-control movement in the United States. She and others opened clinics to provide women with information and devices. Although frequently jailed, she and her followers were instrumental in getting laws changed. In subsequent years, laws against birth control gradually weakened, and more effective methods were developed.
"People and Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
Kristof, Nicholas D. “The Birth Control Solution.” New York Times 2 Nov. 11 Web. 26 April 2014.