Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger outside a New York City Courthouse (http://wsgroupproject.tripod.com/id7.html)

Motherhood is seen as a natural progression in a woman’s life. American society views motherhood as a manifestation of a couple’s love. The baby born is a living breathing testament to the institution of marriage and what two people in love are capable of creating. However, this idealistic view is just that, idealistic. Many woman see the birth of another child as nothing but a burden, another mouth to feed. The turn of the twentieth century brought along with it the invention and popularization of the birth control pill. To a culture still entrenched in conservative Victorian values, these developments were shocking. Perhaps what made the movement so revolutionary was not only the cause that it advocated indirectly, sex without the purpose of procreation, but the woman who was at the forefront, Margaret Sanger. Sanger was the product of what she herself called, "a slave mother." Her mother gave birth over a dozen times. Sanger grew up witnessing firsthand the tragedy of unwanted pregnancy and the hopelessness of her mother. Sanger worked as a nurse and found herself in the company of the poverty-stricken women in New York’s lower east side time and time again, helping women give birth to children they did not want. These experiences profoundly affected Sanger and inspired her to devote her entire life to the improvement of these woman’s lives.

Sanger herself pinpointed the exact moment in time where she knew that she would take up this crusade. During the time she worked as a nurse, Margaret came across a young Jewish immigrant who was suffering from a botched abortion that she had tried to perform on herself. Sanger used this woman’s plight to illustrate the horrific effects of withholding birth control from women who desired it. Mrs. Sach, the young woman, had repeatedly asked her doctor for contraception and his now- infamous response had been to tell her husband to sleep on the roof. As a result, Mrs. Sach died of her complications and Sanger left the career of nursing forever to pursue fundamental social change.

The first step to her goal of promoting social change began with a simple sex education column in the socialist newsletter, "The Call." The column was titled "What Every Girl Should Know" and it sought to educate women on what was oftentimes a great mystery to them, their own body. It is true that in modern times this column was perceivably reserved in the discussion of sexuality, but for 1910, the column was revolutionary. Sexuality in general was a topic that was not discussed in the public realm. For anyone, especially a woman, to write about reproduction and other related topics was unheard of. America was just emerging from the Victorian Age and was taken by complete surprise when a woman emerged at the forefront of a blossoming sexual revolution. Women during this time were supposed to be pious, pure, and above all submissive. The bedroom was a sphere that was completely dominated by men. The common belief of the day was that women were not much troubled with sexual feeling of any kind. Women had absolutely no say in the sexual relations between themselves and their husband and, in the eyes of the law, women were considered no more than children. Physical and mental abuse from husbands was rampant, often the man completely dominated the woman in every aspect of her life.

However, Sanger was undeterred by the lack of precedence and continued on with her writing. She continued on despite the fact that federal, state and local laws were all against her.

As a result of her quest she was put into jail eight times, criticized heavily by the medical community, condemned by churches, and looked down upon by the general public. Yet, the outcry against her only seemed to fuel her desire to continue her work. Working on the Lower East Side, Sanger became exposed to the need for this social change. She was witness to lines of women waiting for a five-dollar abortion. In fact, abortion was widely practiced in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By 1850 it is estimated that one out every five pregnancies were aborted. The problem was a lack of regulation and the simple fact that besides rudimentary contraceptives for men, there was no active organization promoting contraceptives to women. The greatest misconception regarding Sanger is that she was an open advocate for abortion. In simply reading a flyer that promoted the first Birth Control Center in the United States, it is obvious that prevention of pregnancy was her ultimate goal. The flyer states, "Mothers! Can you afford to have a large family? Do you want any more children? If not, why do you have them? DO NOT KILL, DO NOT TAKE LIFE, BUT PREVENT! Safe, harmless information can be obtained of trained Nurses at 46 Ambroy Street. Tell your friends and neighbors. All mothers welcome." The words, "do not kill," are emblazoned on the flyer in bold block prints. This flyer sums up the entire mantra of Margaret Sanger. She was an advocate for education and prevention, not senseless destruction. She wanted to, "liberate the masses of poor women from their age-old sexual servitude," and offer them and their families a more stable future.

Yet, despite all of the positive change that resulted from Sanger’s efforts, it would be erroneous to portray her as a purely altruistic and compassionate individual for one important reason. Sanger was a believer in the process of eugenics, the process of improving society biologically. In other words, Sanger saw the correlation between birth rate and class. The middle and upper classes were better educated, had less children, and as a result of their better upbringing, these children became contributors to the betterment of society. At the time of Sanger the concern of overpopulation was to stifle the perpetuation of hereditary immorality; now it is on preserving the environment. Sanger simply added her voice to the commonly- held belief of the day. Genetics was a new field, and people were just beginning to understand how traits were passed down to succeeding generations. The natural assumption for many not deeply entrenched in the science of genetics was that people in poverty somehow passed down their inadequacies to the next generation. Breeding excessively was only helping to continue the cycle. To many it would be a subversion of natural law, the patently unfit out reproducing the fit. The fear that the masses of poor would outnumber and overtake the well-off was a concern to those who were living comfortably. Sanger offered the poor a method to control their numbers. It would not be fair to say that her intentions were completely malicious. Sanger worked closely with these woman and recognized their plight. As a woman, she was better fit to understand the agony of giving birth to unwanted children. Yet, she did hold views that today are considered quite racist. Her motives may have been skewed, however the positive influence that she put forth should not be discredited.

Sanger is a household name today despite the fact that it has been years since she last graced the cover of a newspaper or appeared in the public eye. Her prominence is maintained because the issue she fought for has not been fully dealt with. To most woman, it makes sense that they should have control over their bodies. No laws are on the books regarding men and reproduction. To say that women and men have an equal part in procreation is ridiculous, the difference lies in the physical. A pregnant woman is difficult to miss, her body gives her condition away. She carries the child in her body for close to a year. If the father leaves, or is unable to support the child, then the woman is left with the burden because, quite simply, she is the person who has no choice but to be in the room when the child is born. Sanger recognized this inequality and simply tried to advocate a way for these disenfranchised woman to regain control over their bodies and prevent unwanted pregnancy.