Contraception is a word commonly used in society today. With hundreds of types, brands, and methods of contraception available, it is hard to imagine a world without it or one in which it was against the law. However, decades ago at the turn of the 20th century, birth control was not easy to get or looked upon as socially acceptable. It was during the First World War that society began to see the emergence of contraception and its acceptance. Readers can also see its emergence in Regeneration on page 128, as Billy Prior propositions his new love interest by stating he "always paddles with me boots on," a reference to the fact that he, as an army man, always wears contraception when having intercourse. With this background, we can now see how Pat Barker uses this brief cultural reference to remind readers of the history of contraception for both men and women during the war and to suggest how people can find emotionally fulfilling and loving personal relationships through sex, a main theme in the novel.
Many men during the war were soldiers. With the constant travel and movement of their platoons, soldiers did not stay in one place or, for that matter, with one girl. Consequently, during the First World War, condoms were handed out to soldiers as a preventative measure against the spread of venereal disease (Robb 65). Because soldiers would sometimes have many partners, condoms became a necessity to carry. Lesley A. Hall wrote, "It is often stated that condoms gained, as it were, a certain currency through being distributed to troops," by soldiers trading them back and forth to decrease, once again, the spread of disease. Currency suggests that condoms became of value, almost to that of money, during the war. This increase of ca...
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...een Prior and Sarah. By seeing these two characters begin the courting process, go through the choice to use birth control, and then fall in love, the reader's understanding of Prior and Sarah’s relationship, and the importance of sex in that relationship, help shape contraception’s significance to the novel.
Works Cited
Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003.
Bullough, Vern L., and Bonnie Bullough. “A Brief History of Population Control and Contraception.” Free Inquiry. 14.2 (1994): 16-7
Hall, Lesley A. “Angus McLaren, Twentieth Century Sexuality.” 1999. 12 Apr. 2003. <http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/mclaren.htm>
Hall, Lesley A. “History of Condoms.” 2003. 12 Apr. 2003. <http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/acbcond.htm>
“Marie Stopes.” 2003. Spartacus Online. 12 Apr. 2003 <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/b33.htm>
Dorothy Wardell’s article titled “Margaret Sanger: Birth Control’s Successful Revolutionary” explains what inspired Sanger ideas on contraception and what problems she faced while working to change the notions and laws on Birth Control. The central argument presented by Wardell is that Sanger’s efforts led to privileges for women’s bodies and health centers providing methods for women to act on these privileges (Wardell, 736). Although Wardell is effective in supporting her argument, it would be stronger if she included some historical context and evidence of Sanger’s opinion in her own words found in a speech of hers and in Family Limitation. Wardell begins by addressing that “…a definitive biography and assessment has yet to be written.”,
The Alberta Oil Sands are large deposits of bitumen in north-eastern Alberta. Discovered in 1848, the first commercial operation was in 1967 with the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opening, and today many companies have developments there. The Alberta Oil Sand development is very controversial, as there are severe environmental impacts and effects on the local Aboriginal peoples. This essay will discuss the need for changes that can be made for the maximum economic benefit for Canada, while reducing the impact on the environment and limiting expansion, as well as securing Alberta’s future. Changes need to be made to retain the maximum economic benefits of the Alberta Oil Sands while mitigating the environmental and geopolitical impact. This will be achieved by building pipelines that will increase the economic benefits, having stricter environmental regulation and expansion limitations, and improving the Alberta Heritage Fund or starting a new fund throu...
McLaren, Angus. Birth control and abortion in canada, 1870–1920. Canadian Historical Review Volume 59 (3): 319-40.
"A free race cannot be born" and no woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother"(Sanger A 35). Margaret Sanger (1870-1966)said this in one of her many controversial papers. The name of Margaret Sanger and the issue of birth control have virtually become synonymous. Birth control and the work of Sanger have done a great deal to change the role of woman in society, relationships between men and woman, and the family. The development and spread of knowledge of birth control gave women sexual freedom for the first time, gave them an individual identity in society and a chance to work without fearing they were contributing to the moral decline of society by leaving children at home. If birth control and Sanger did so much good to change the role of women in society why was birth control so controversial?
This essay will analyse whether the iconic representation of the roaring twenties with the woman's new right to sexuality, was a liberal step of progression within society or a capitalist venture to exploit a new viable market. Using Margaret Sanger's work in comparison with a survey conducted by New Girls for Old, the former a more mature look at the sexuality and ownership to a woman's body and the second a representation of girls coming of age in the sexually "free" roaring twenties. Margaret Sanger is known as "the mother of planned parenthood", and in the source she collates a collection of letters to speak of the sexual enslavement of motherhood through the fulfilment of the husbands desires. While Blanchard and Manasses of New Girls for Old suggests the historical consensus that the flapper is a figment compared to the reality where promiscuity was largely condemned.
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.
According to one government analysis, the crude from Canada’s oil sands will emit seventeen percent more greenhouse gas pollution than there processes used for conventional oil, making it even more controversial against environmentalists (Davenport par. 6). The concerns are reflected in great quantity of carbon in the tar sands, “Ensure that they will play an important role in whether or not climate change gets out of hand” (Clayton 2). In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) noticed the impact it would have on greenhouse gas emissions. According to the E.P.A., “The recent drop in global oil prices might mean that contraction of the pipeline vault spur increased development of Canadian oil sands—and thus increase planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions” (Davenport par
In the 1950’s, the search was on for a reliable oral contraceptive. Research began based
Watkins, Elizabeth Siegel. Genesis Of The Pill. On the Pill: A Social History of Oral
Oil sands are unconventional petroleum deposits that consist of loose sand and partially consolidated sand stone that contains natural mixtures of natural clay, sand and water which is saturated with a highly viscous form of petroleum that flows extremely slowly known as bitumen (Yunchez, 2012).
"Stakeholders Realtions (Oil Sands) Pdf." CBSR. Canadian Buisness for Social Responsibility, May 2009. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .
Marijuana is a drug formed by drying out the shredded flowers, stems, and leaves of the Indian hemp plant. It is also the most common illegal drug used in the United States, and the second most- used drug in the world, behind alcohol. According to one national survey, approximately 6,000 Americans try marijuana for the first time every day. Marijuana has been proven to positively affect some illnesses, and the Medical Legalization Movement has made great progress in the US (randomhistory.com ©2007-2014). However, should the drug be approved for recreational purposes? Several significant reasons lead me to believe it should be.
The extraction of crude oil from the Athabasca oil sands is carried out by surface mining and in situ mining. 90% of recoverable bitumen is located too deep to be recovered by surface mining (Mossop, 1980). Both techniques require invasive processes to successfully extract the bitumen from the subsurface and result in degradation of the land upon which they ar...
"People and Events: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
Evald has repeatedly espoused to her that he does not want children. Thus when she becomes pregnant at the age of thirty-nine, Marianne is in an incredibly difficult position: leave her husband and raise the child on her own, or abort the child and stay with her husband. Neither of these options are ideal; Marianne repeatedly elucidates that she wants to keep the child, and so the decision is not one she can make lightly. This brings to mind other sub-optimal conditions faced by prospective mothers throughout the semester; particularly, the situation of Lucy in Disgrace, pregnant with her rapist’s child, conjures similar quandaries. Neither of these women is a teenager unable to support herself and her possible offspring, but still, the question of impending motherhood is a challenging one. Wild Strawberries tends to portray motherhood in a negative light; motherhood does not seem a harbinger of joy and happiness, but rather a necessary evil that should not necessarily be undertaken. Sarah, Isak’s betrothed who eventually marries his brother, cradles what is supposed to be a newborn child, but is obviously only a facsimile, a doll. Isak’s mother, of advanced age, is frigid and cold towards him, unwilling to show the least bit of affection for her last remaining