In Thomas B. Edsall’s “The Two Revolutions,” Edsall analyzes these two major revolutions that have transpired in American history: the socio-cultural or rights movement and the technological, scientific, and economic revolution (TSE). The sociocultural revolution involved the rights concerning workingwomen, women’s work and workplace rights, demographic change, sexual freedom and abortion rights. Post-World War II, America faced a race-based freedom movement, which worked parallel to the decay of sexual mores. Further, the “rights” revolution worked inclusively of the contraceptive revolution. The contraceptive revolution was a result of the innovation of antibiotics, surgical abortion, fertility techniques and more, allowing women to delay childbirth and focus on careers, for instance. With sex-based discrimination faltering as a result of this movement, it paved the way for an immense admittance of women into the workforce. Moreover, the resulting developments of this movement were observable in Vatican II (1965), which instigated the modernization of sex roles within the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is clear that the “rights” revolution was not limited to America, but a movement visible throughout the world.
In addition, the TSE revolution that clearly concerned areas of society, including the technological, scientific and economic sectors, having an ongoing effect on the business structure of American society. Further, the TSE revolution occurred side-by-side to the sociocultural revolution, affecting contraceptive technology, economic change and females in the workspace. With the globalization of commerce, development of new types of financial engineering, the revolution assisted in augmenting the power role for America o...
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...th the Republican image becoming more conservative, the party begins to win the vote of white men. Clearly demonstrated as a win for the GOP when they win the election with Reagan. Reagan used his influence to weaken the provisions of the Voting Rights Act and rescinding IRS ruling baring tax exemption from discriminatory schools. When Clinton came to office, he became the archetype of the “rights” revolution, countered by Bush’s administration that was clearly conservative. As a result of the two revolutions, the Republican and the Democratic Parties were then “branded.” The Republican being more conservative and the Democratic Party being liberal, being split by the Sociocultural and TSE revolutions. Nevertheless, it is clear that America still remained conservative in spite of these revolutions, leading to the collective progress of Republican political fortunes.
In the late1960’s American politics were shifting at a National level with liberalism being less supported as its politics were perceived as flawed, both by people on the left who thought that liberalism was not as effective as more radical political enterprises and by conservatives who believed that liberal politics were ostensibly crippling the American economy.
This lecture on the Pill will focus on the introduction, controversies, and outcome of women’s control of contraception during the mid 20th century. It will also discuss how the Pill became an influential stepping-stone for women activists. I chose to focus this discussion on three questions. First, what did the Pill teach us about the role of women in the middle 20th century? Second, what were the arguments for and against the Pill? Lastly, how safe was the Pill and what effects did women experience from taking it? By centering in on these questions, I hope to provide insight on the struggles women faced before and after this birth control technology became readily available to women in the United States.
During the late 1700’s, the United States was no longer a possession of Britain, instead it was a market for industrial goods and the world’s major source for tobacco, cotton, and other agricultural products. A labor revolution started to occur in the United States throughout the early 1800’s. There was a shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial market system. After the War of 1812, the domestic marketplace changed due to the strong pressure of social and economic forces. Major innovations in transportation allowed the movement of information, people, and merchandise. Textile mills and factories became an important base for jobs, especially for women. There was also widespread economic growth during this time period (Roark, 260). The market revolution brought about economic growth through new modes of transportation, an abundance of natural resources, factory production, and banking and legal practices.
Although the history of how abortion became such a taboo act, forcing many women to attempt to self-induce, may be unclear, one thing is evident: the criminalization of abortions has greatly harmed women in America. The change from common law, which allowed abortions prior to quickening, to codified laws that prohibited it, was the beginning of the criminalization of abortion. In addition, the actions of the American Medical Association to get rid of non-traditional practitioners, and the way the Church changed its perspectives on abortion played a crucial role in making it harder for women to obtain abortions. Due to these actions, the danger of abortions increased because the only ones that were accessible were often underground, and unsafe. If it were not these occurrences many women would have been more likely to survive abortions.
No other element of the Women’s Rights Movement has generated as much controversy as the debate over reproductive rights. As the movement gained momentum so did the demand for birth control, sex education, family planning and the repeal of all abortion laws. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision which declared abortion "fundamental right.” The ruling recognized the right of the individual “to be free from unwanted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the right of a woman to decide whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (US Supreme Court, 1973) This federal-level ruling took effect, legalizing abortion for all women nationwide.
Birth Control has always been a topic of controversy in America, generating large opposition and actions to regulate it. The regulation of any form of birth control was made final with the Comstock Act being passed in 1873 that was a, “federal law that made it a crime to sell or distribute materials that could be used for contraception or abortion”. This act created by and enacted by Anthony Comstock, caused a long and troubling path for feminists attempting to break the patriarchal society and gain the freedom to control their own bodies and choices. The virdict was supported throughout the years and by the 1950s many opinions of religious people, political persons, and most men who accepted traditional gender roles continued on the path of
To ensure that women would have the same opportunities as men in jobs, education, and political participation, the National Organization for women was formed in 1966 (Foner 944). The sixties also marked the beginning of a public campaign to repeal state laws that banned abortion or left the decision to terminate a pregnancy to physicians instead of the woman (Foner 945). Although the sixties were a decade in which the United States became a more open, more tolerant, and a freer country, in some ways it became less of a thing. During the sixties, America intervened in other nations and efforts were made to stop the progress of the civil rights movement. Because of America’s foreign policy and Americans fighting against the civil rights movement, it is clear that the sixties in America were not purely a decade of openness, tolerance, and freedom in the United States.
Alongside the brutal, bloody Civil War and makeshift post-war reconstruction in the South were several monumental changes within the United States. As federal power increased, so did the power of the Constitution, as it began to expand and shift to encompass more and more people. With this also came a social change; millions of blacks, now freed by the thirteenth amendment, had the potential to be just as successful as their white brethren. As time went by, however, numerous pitfalls and opposing viewpoints challenged the idea of constitutional and social transformation. While there was a constitutional revolution occurring from 1860-1877, there was little to no social revolution happening at the same time.
In the 1921 women's rights were just developing a serious persona in society. It was not until August 26 of 1920 that women were given the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as men. And although these rights were legal by 1921, many religious groups did not believe women should have the freedom to make their own decisions about reproduction. It was believed that if a woman had this “freedom” that she would lose her morality, on the basis that freedom from pregnancy would evoke higher levels of promiscuity.
Margaret Sanger was, at large, a birth control activist, but this speech was more about the questioning of birth control corrupting morality in women. People must remember, in the day and age where Sanger presented this speech, November 1921, women were considered very far from equal and much closer to servants or maids. In her speech, I saw that ethos was present in the sense that she gave herself credibility. Through Sanger’s detailed words and actions, and her statements including the presence of scientists and, or, professionals, the masses of listening people could infer that she was very well informed and solid in her statements. Though she presented herself as agreeable, Sanger was firm in her beliefs. In addition, Sanger says, “We desire to stop at its source the disease, poverty and feeble-mindedness and insanity which exist today, for these lower the standards of civilization and make for race deterioration. We know that the masses of people are growing wiser and are using their own minds to decide their individual conduct” (Sanger, par.15). To me, Sanger made herself appeal to the audience by using the word ‘we.’ In the practice of ethos, this focused on the author more than...
Advocates of criminalization also stressed society’s obligation to halt the declining birthrate among white Americans. And many stressed the need to protect the sanctity of motherhood and the chastity of white women; abortion, after all, supported the separation of sexual intercourse from reproduction. For many physicians and others, all of these concerns where generally more trenchant in the nineteenth century than the issue of fetal life. (Solinger: 5).
The Roaring Twenties were known as a time of economic boom, pop culture and social developments. This was a time when women began to break norms, they acted rebelliously such as wearing releveling clothing, smoking, and drinking. These women were known as “flappers” who wanted to change their roles in the 1920’s. Birth control activist, Margaret Sanger sought to change the world where women had access to a low cost, effective contraception pill. In “The Morality of Birth Control” Sanger battled opponents who claimed that contraception would cause women to become immoral. The author uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and fallacies to back up her claim while touching on issues in the church, advancements of women, and the source of disease in the world.
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
"People and Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
When one contemplates the concept of eugenics, few think of modern contraception and abortion when in reality they are one in the same. The American Eugenics Society, founded in 1923, proudly proclaimed that men with incurable “conditions” should be sterilized. However these conditions were often none that could be helped, such as, one’s intelligence, race, and social class (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The purpose of the society was to create the perfect class of men; elite in all ways. Likewise, Margaret Sanger’s feminist, contraceptive movement was not originally founded with this purpose. It was marketed as a way to control the population and be merciful to those yet to be born, again determined also by race and intelligence. The similarities in purpose actually brought the two organizations together to form a “liberating movement” to “aid women” known today as Planned Parenthood (Schweikart and Allen 529-532). The name may sound harmless, but the movement hid a darker purpose, to wean out the lower and less educated in order to create a perfect class.