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A review by writerbeverly
Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America by Ellen Chesler
4.0
Meticulously researched and footnoted, this somewhat ponderous tome (about 670 pages including the notes and index) does not make for a quick beach read. It's fascinating to learn how very many of the rights modern women take for granted come from the work of this brave and dedicated woman, who began the movement and started the clinics that eventually morphed into Planned Parenthood, both in the USA and internationally.
People - even doctors - didn't even TALK about the phrase (ssssh) BIRTH CONTROL a hundred years ago. Sanger changed that, brought an awareness of the need to offer women reproductive choices other than abstinence, too many babies, or illegal and risky abortions.
Sanger's reputation has been much besmirched in the last few decades by those who hate that women are making their own choices as to when - or whether to become mothers. As Chesler presents her, Sanger was far from perfect; she made enemies as well as friends and supporters. She was loath to give up the glory/credit for work that others joined in as well. (Sanger may have been one of the earliest pioneers of name branding.)
Redheaded, witty and attractive, she did not believe in monogamy (at least for herself) and engaged in countless affairs, including one with writer H.G. Wells, somehow managing it that none of her men became jealous of her other lovers or husbands; they were all happy, or at least content, having a tiny bit of her time and attention. Whether you believe this disgustingly immoral or not, it's still an amazing feat for anyone to pull off. She was not a good mother, neglecting her children for the cause of B.C.
But she was not a supporter of Nazism, race eugenics, or racism - those are all LIES propagated by those with an axe to grind. She wasn't even really in favor of abortion, though she grudgingly agreed that in some cases there was a medical necessity.
This book will inform you of all you ever wanted to learn about Margaret Sanger (and more), and if you have a question or wonder how or why the author interpreted something, it's all deeply footnoted. The ending feels a bit rushed; perhaps because the author was conscious of it already being a very long book, or perhaps because Sanger made less news and had fewer letters and interviews in her declining years following several heart attacks. Worth the read, for anyone interested in women's history.
People - even doctors - didn't even TALK about the phrase (ssssh) BIRTH CONTROL a hundred years ago. Sanger changed that, brought an awareness of the need to offer women reproductive choices other than abstinence, too many babies, or illegal and risky abortions.
Sanger's reputation has been much besmirched in the last few decades by those who hate that women are making their own choices as to when - or whether to become mothers. As Chesler presents her, Sanger was far from perfect; she made enemies as well as friends and supporters. She was loath to give up the glory/credit for work that others joined in as well. (Sanger may have been one of the earliest pioneers of name branding.)
Redheaded, witty and attractive, she did not believe in monogamy (at least for herself) and engaged in countless affairs, including one with writer H.G. Wells, somehow managing it that none of her men became jealous of her other lovers or husbands; they were all happy, or at least content, having a tiny bit of her time and attention. Whether you believe this disgustingly immoral or not, it's still an amazing feat for anyone to pull off. She was not a good mother, neglecting her children for the cause of B.C.
But she was not a supporter of Nazism, race eugenics, or racism - those are all LIES propagated by those with an axe to grind. She wasn't even really in favor of abortion, though she grudgingly agreed that in some cases there was a medical necessity.
This book will inform you of all you ever wanted to learn about Margaret Sanger (and more), and if you have a question or wonder how or why the author interpreted something, it's all deeply footnoted. The ending feels a bit rushed; perhaps because the author was conscious of it already being a very long book, or perhaps because Sanger made less news and had fewer letters and interviews in her declining years following several heart attacks. Worth the read, for anyone interested in women's history.