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How Did Margaret Sanger Use Birth Control Dbq

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Birth Control: Salvation for Working-Class Women

Although societies with rigorous rules such as the ancient Greeks practiced the use of birth control and the invention of modern contraceptive methods---such as condoms, diaphragms, and douches---have been around since the early 1800’s, birth control still did not prevail in the twentieth century and was highly controversial. Margaret Sanger gave people a new and radical ideology stating how birth control helped women in many more ways than their sexuality. Sanger published many literature pieces about her opinions on options and freedom for women in society. Several other women and doctors acknowledged her argument by broadcasting it during the Progressive Era. When the 1920’s came around, …show more content…

These two pieces jumpstarted Sanger’s campaign for a woman’s right to access birth control. The Notably, Margaret Sanger debuted her tabloid---The Woman Rebel---in 1914. In regards to this, Sanger argued in “Why the Woman Rebel?” that deep down in every woman lies a spirit of revolt. Women in the early twentieth century were accustomed to listening to their husbands and having no voice of opinion. Women never felt the freedom of independence. The government ruled it illegal to distribute information on birth control, but that did not stop Sanger from rebelling against this law. When Sanger states, “…I believe that not until wage slavery is abolished can either woman’s or man’s freedom be fully attained,” she compared women to slaves, held down by the chains of restriction from gaining their own wages. Sanger argued for women’s freedom to make their own decisions. Falling into the child-bearing standard did not give women a choice on whether they wanted to be a part of the working class or to spend their lives as housewives. Publishing tabloids influenced many women across the country to reconsider their lives, but it was never easy for radical feminists to voice their opinion …show more content…

Anthony Comstock worked as a special agent of the U.S. Post Office Department. He served as a high position in government, which crippled Sanger’s campaign to spread the word about birth control and allow women to gain their freedom outside the household Comstock opposed birth control in a very strong manner and even disapproved Sanger’s newspaper to be distributed. In the interview, Comstock explained about how women sunk down to the level of the beast by choosing to have sex instead of having self-control. He argued that if women bore the strength of abstaining, then there wouldn’t be a need for birth control or abortions in the first place. With regards to blaming, Comstock not only antagonized the parents for succumbing to sin, but also blamed women for sexualizing themselves in the first place. Furthermore, he stated that preventing a woman from getting pregnant would work the greatest

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