Margaret Sanger And The Birth Control Movement Highlighted

Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement highlighted a variety of important issues. These issues include women’s right to make decisions privately versus the right of a community to regulate moral behavior; the ethnic demographics of the American people; the ability of women to control their own physical destinies by limiting family size; and the idea that small families were the way to keep the American dream alive. The debate over birth control spoke to personal and political issues, which poses the question: Was birth control merely a matter of individual choice, or was it about power, wealth, opportunity and similar issues? Birth control was not merely a technique to expand the realm of personal freedom; it grew out of a radical†¦show more content†¦To the question â€Å"Why the Woman Rebel?† Sanger wrote â€Å"Because I believe that deep down in woman’s nature lies slumbering the spirit of revolt† and â€Å"Because I believe that throu gh the efforts of individual revolution will woman’s freedom emerge†. Both highlight how birth control was not a mere technique to personal freedom, but an avenue to power. These quotes emphasize Sanger’s belief that the birth control pill would unleash the spirit of freedom amongst women. She did not argue for the open distribution of contraceptive to promote personal freedom. However, she believed that limitation on family size would free women from the dangers of childbearing and give them the opportunity to become active outside the home. In addition, Document 1 acknowledges birth control’s ability to bring about radical social class change. Sanger includes her belief that women are â€Å"enslaved by the world machine†¦middle-class morality†. Her idea of social change not only involved embracing the liberation of woman, but also the working class. It is believed that the birth control campaign succeeded as it became â€Å"a movement by an d for the middle class†. Birth control provided middle-class women the opportunity to plan families without the stress of balancing growing expenses for a child that was not planned for. In The Woman Rebel Sanger introduces birth control’s larger mission of power and opportunity for women while incorporating the basis of social class.Show MoreRelatedWoman And The New Race2076 Words   |  9 PagesWithin the literature of ‘Woman and the New Race’, Sanger challenges the extent of the use of birth control and questions whom it will benefit aside from women should it become available. 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