Critical thinking is an essential skill to be acquired at college level in order to improve one’s writing and speaking proficiency. In order to hone my critical thinking skills, I was assigned to review a speech and write a critical thinking essay about it. I reviewed the speech “The Morality of Birth Control” by Margaret Sanger. She delivered the aforementioned speech on 18th November 1921 at Park Theatre, New York. In her speech she discusses the importance of birth control and how different people perceive this idea. She also lays emphasis on how important it is to create awareness among the people about birth control. Indeed, I found her speech to be persuasive and with well-articulated arguments, and involving substantial evidence and …show more content…
(Sanger 1921). Dr. Herr remarks that, “the premises in inductive reasoning are usually based on facts or observations”. (Herr 2007). She makes inductive reasoning when she makes the point of following Christian following is worthless if one cannot trust a women with the knowledge about her own body. (Sanger 1921). One of the hallmarks of an effective speaker is to make their arguments stand on the basis of examples from history or real life. (Nelson et. al 2013). In this speech, Margaret states an argument from parallel case when makes a reference to women’s fight for higher education in past. It was considered immoral and claims were made that women would end up being immoral and eventually lose sanctity in home. (Sanger 1921). Another important persuasive skill is to offer your audience options. The method employed for giving them options is to offer classifications and allowing the audience to choose the best option. The argument regarding the use of birth control that Margaret is advancing classifies people into different groups on the basis of awareness they have regarding birth control methods and their effective use. (Sanger
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Show MoreOn September 14, 1879, Margaret Sanger was born in Corning, New York. She was the sixth child of eleven children and realized early what being part of a large family meant; just making due. Although her family was Roman Catholic both her mother and father were of Irish descent. Her mother, Anne Purcell had a sense of beauty that was expressed through and with flowers. Her father was an Irish born stonemason whose real religion was social radicalism. Her father was a free thinker and strong believer in eugenics which meant Margaret possessed some of the same values. (Sanger, Margaret) Eugenics is the belief that one race is better than a different race just because they are not like them, kind of like Hitler and the holocaust. “He expected me to be grown up at the age of ten.” (Source 4.3 page 30) Coming from a family of eleven children she did have to grow up fast. Faster than most kids should have to. She left her house as a teenager and came back when she needed to study nursing. It was during this time that Margaret worked as a maternity nurse helping in the delivery of babies to immigrant women. She saw illegal abortions, women being overwhelmed by poverty, to many children, and women dying because they had no knowledge of how to prevent one pregnancy after another. This reminded her of the fact that her own mother had eighteen pregnancies, eleven children, and died at the age of forty-nine. Margaret dropped out of school and moved in with her sister. She ended up teaching first grade children and absolutely hated it. She hated children at that time. When Margaret was a child herself however, she would dream about living on the hill where all the wealthy people lived. She would dream of playing tennis and wearing beautiful c...
In the second decade of the twentieth century, the U.S. birth control movement became an important topic among Americans. It was at this time that Margaret Sanger, the eventual founder of Planned Parenthood, became involved in the radical movement for voluntary motherhood and the distribution of contraceptives (Hartmann). As a nurse she assisted poor women in giving birth, and saw the effect of having too many children on the welfare of these women. She also saw the suffering, pain, and death of many women who obtained unsafe, backdoor abortions to escape having more children (Shaw, Lee).
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.
During the whole of the 21st century, the subject of birth control has become a trending topic throughout various news reports. The debate on whether or not birth control should be required and distributed by all health plans has caused much controversy throughout the population. However, there was a time in our history when contraceptives, much less birth control, was available for the public. It was through the perseverance and determination of Margaret Sanger to make birth control legal for all women that it is accessible worldwide today. She was the leader of the birth control movement, which was conceived during the Progressive era of United States history.
What creates individuality in us is the ability to have the right to our own opinion. As the rape culture and teenage pregnancy becomes a more apparent issue, abortion surfaces itself as a leading topic in today’s society. Although contraception may be an option for everyone, there are still risks involved and mistakes to be made. Females from a wide range of age groups frequently have abortions today because of wrong decisions and special circumstances. We see various advertisements and propaganda emerging all around us. The news media still continue to outline the pros and cons of having an abortion. Abortion has been the subject of debate for centuries between many human rights activists, religious groups, and even health care practitioners.
To Control or to Not Control: The Government and Birth Control. Health care and what people are legally allowed to do with their bodies have created controversy galore throughout history. A particular point of debate is the topic of birth control and the government. A dangerous couple, it raises the question of who should have control over contraceptive laws and what controls involving them should be put in place. Currently, under the Obama Administration, the Affordable Care Act and “Obamacare” are being created.
Margaret Sanger saw that extra children exacerbate the problem of poverty. Poor families only get poorer when there is an extra mouth to feed. She believed that birth control would help these families rise up out of poverty and crime. If people knew that they could determine how many children they would have, then they could plan accordingly. A married couple that could afford only one child could make sure that one was all they had. Contraception meant that they didn’t have to live in constant fear that they couldn’t support their family. It offered them the freedom of choice. They could live within their means.
Sanger, Margaret. "The Morality of Birth Control." Gifts of Speech. Smith College, 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
In today’s practice there are several options to consider for contraception. Multiple different birth control pills, intrauterine devices, vaginal rings, implants, and injections are viable options. The development of the first oral contraceptive A male non-hormonal contraceptive polymer is in the process of gaining approval which will empower men to have equal say and responsibility in preventing pregnancies outside of the use of prophylactics. The impact of Margaret Sanger’s activism is reflected outside of birth control measures in today’s medical practice. Sexually transmitted diseases and infections have been a serious problem for a significant amount of time. However, the efforts of Margaret Sanger along with others has impacted how society approaches sexual education and testing. Programs such as Planned Parenthood and the general acceptance of birth control measures have changed the nursing process greatly and in general, the way we live
Sanger organizes her argument by first presenting a series of questions that were sent out to “the most eminent men and women in the world.” These questions pertained to the opinions of these men and women on the topic of how birth control and awareness could potentially affect their society. She then talks about the
The Birth Control Movement was one of many social reforms that emerged during the Progressive Era. This movement peaked during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This movement pushed for parents to have the ability to manage the size of their families and have the ability prevent unwanted pregnancies. This movement was led by a number of strong female activists, the most essential advocate being nurse Margaret Sanger. As the Birth Control Movement began, Sanger primarily focused on decriminalizing birth control education and devices. She fought laws such as The 1873 Comstock Law, which restricted the dissemination of birth control information and devices by placing them in the same category as pornography. In response to this act Sanger started a reproductive rights journal called The Woman Rebel in 1914, and opened the first birth control clinic in 1916. After discovering the possibility of an oral contraceptive, Sanger asked biologist Gregory Pincus in 1950 to lead the development of a hormonally based birth control pill.
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.
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.
The speech being analyzed is Sanger’s “The Morality of Birth Control”. The question being analyzed is “was Sanger justified in pursuing women’s rights, or was she doing it mostly for fame?” The point being argued for is that she was doing it just because she wanted the world to be a better place and she would do whatever it took to help the cause. If this is true then both her writing and her action strategies should reflect this belief.
n “I Resolved that Women should have knowledge of Contraception,” Margaret Sanger describes women’s desperate attempts to limit their family size by efforts such as drinking various herb-teas, inserting foreign objects into their uterus and even rolling down the stairs. Sanger also describes the reasons behind women’s desperate attempts to prevent or eliminate pregnancy, along with the story of her mother’s death; a major inspiration for her desire in the birth control movement. Women in the twentieth century were dominated by their husbands