Summary Of The Dark Side Of Birth Control By Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger introduced “Morality and Birth Control” in February 1918. One would argue that this period was pivotal for the progression of women – five years after the Women’s Suffrage March and two years before the 19th amendment granted voting rights to women. Sanger had the ability to use her work and influence for the emancipation of women, and some felt as if she had accomplished bringing awareness to women issues. However, did Sanger consider the impact that the push for birth control would have on the black community? In her book The Dark Side of Birth Control, Dorothy Roberts reveals the effects of birth control once intersectionality is taken into consideration. While access to birth control was viewed as a progression towards

Roberts discusses the devotion Sanger had during the birth control movement. Sanger explained how women often experienced unwanted pregnancies and performed self-induced abortions. She argued that birth control would grant women the freedom to “express their sexuality without fear of pregnancy” (Roberts, 57). Her argument also sought to break down patriarchal views of women duties being to bear children and tend to the household. While all of the following claims presented by Sanger seem to have a positive feminist view, she soon focused birth control as a solution to societal issues. Sanger claims that there is a correlation between poverty and large families and even list nine reasons when and why parents should not have children. The reasons listed by Sanger ranged from people with a disease, women under the age of twenty-three, and the parents’ economic circumstance. Therefore, rather than arguing about women issues she listed societal problems and why women who fall into those categories should not have children. The shift from focusing on women issues to social issues easily became a target on the black community through the eugenics movement as discussed by

Therefore, since the black community was considered “undesirable” we can see how the birth control movement targeted blacks. I would argue that reproductive rights for black women have always been a social issue but the content in which it is viewed has changed. Before the Emancipation Proclamation blacks were considered the property of their slave owners, therefore, the white masters had the ability to do as they pleased with the slaves, especially women. Roberts explained how slave masters would rape and impregnate the female slaves as a way to increase their