Margaret Sanger

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how Margaret Sanger's dedication to birth control as a woman's right, as depicted in Ellen Chesler's biography, "Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America," allies Sanger as an early radical feminist. It examines the personal, professional and political/intellectual experiences and friendships that have shaped and changed these positions over her life, with a focus on her work as a nurse and her relationship with Emma Goldman. Finally, it shows how despite these changing positions, a constant belief throughout her life was that women should have access to birth control her life.

From the Paper:

"Sanger's first foray into feminism was through the radical bohemian culture flourishing in pre-war Greenwich Village. Margaret's husband William Sanger was a Socialist and Margaret became involved with the party's early efforts to mobilize women members, particularly from women laboring in the garment industry. When the Socialist Party embraced the cause of women's suffrage, Margaret was put in charge of promoting the vote for women. Records from 1911 show that she participated in distributing leaflets and pamphlets, agitating for the right to vote. However, Margaret became dissatisfied with the focus on suffrage. Many aspects of her personal life and her work as a visiting nurse convinced her that the Socialist focus on suffrage was "a low priority in the larger struggle of working women for economic and social justice" (59)."

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