The Birth of Birth Control
(image from naturalcycles.com)
History
Let’s start with Margaret Sanger, the founder of the birth control movement during the 20th century. She paved a way for the creation of the modern birth control pill in 1960. She was born on September 14, 1879, in Corning, New York, being the sixth child out of eleven. Sanger’s mother later died at 50 due to complications with her health after the 11 pregnancies. This event became a turning point for Sanger later on. After moving to New York in 1910 with her husband and 3 children, she became a member of the Women’s Committee of the NY chapter of the Socialist Party and participated in multiple women’s labor protests.
During this time, however, the federal Comstock Law place which prohibited the distribution of “obscene materials” through the mails. Of course, birth control was seen as such. Sanger strongly believed that birth control could control family size and therefore end the cycle of women’s poverty as well as health issues. In due time, Sanger became popular and she gained recognition by the media. However, her reputation became tarnished (rightfully so) after she became associated with the eugenics movement. For those who don’t know the eugenics movement, this campaign sought out to “breed out undesirable populations by limiting their ability to procreate through birth control and sterilization”.
Not only that, she was very racist and created toxic work environments for the people of color that worked at Planned Parenthood. I will be honest I did not know that she was an awful woman. The fact that she advocated for women’s reproductive rights yet not for the civil rights of women of color is disgusting. Her goal was to benefit the white communities and reduce the populations of other races.
Birth Control and Its Representation
When condoms were created they gained popularity in the mid-19th century and were the most common form of birth control before the contraceptive pill. However, the male condom can only be 82-87% when used typically. The thing with condoms is that they do have 98% efficiency but it depends on how you take care of them. Many factors can wear and tear condoms to the point that they will no longer be useful during sex which increases the risks of contracting STIs and...pregnancy (gross). It also surprises me how condoms are shown in the media. It’s always the men that need to have the condom and if they don’t have one the girl is fine with it and then bam, she’s pregnant. She then gets ridiculed and worries about her reputation and the guy either leaves or supports her. This is the most overused trope in the history of tropes. Another theme is “But we used a condom” where the couple uses a condom and it turns out it was faulty and they’re either pregnant or have an STI. Not saying that condoms are bad, but always make sure that they’re undamaged and that whoever puts it on, puts it on correctly. And ALWAYS make sure that they put the condom on. Some men say they’ve put it on when in reality they did not so be watchful. But with modern innovations, different alternatives were made available, each “working in different ways and designed to suit a variety of contraceptive needs”.
Many people assume that the only form of birth control is the pill however this is broadly split into two categories: hormonal and non-hormonal methods.
One of the non- hormonal options is the copper IUD which is a long-acting reversible contraception that first appeared in the 1960s. It has a high effective rate according to the table and the reason it’s so popular is that you don’t need to do anything else once the IUD is inserted.
If you want birth control effectiveness, you might want to choose long-lasting contraception such as the copper or hormonal IUD. However, if you want to protect against STIs/STDs, then you might wanna use condoms. If you want effectiveness in both categories then use both. Before planning on taking birth control, you should get a feel for your body and lifestyle. Some of these options can alter weight, moods and cause breakouts. It can also do the opposite. And though this has been debunked and some instances are very rare, there have been times where situations like these do happen.
Taboo
In most instances, the social stigma around birth control is that those who are taking it are only doing it to prevent pregnancies or have sex freely. This is taboo especially among teenage girls who want to use birth control. However, people on the outside don’t realize how painful and annoying periods can be. Birth control can be used to control bleeding as well as cramps and in some cases, hormonal acne. The other taboo is rooted in religion and some cultures. The christian/catholic church believes that using contraception is wrong. They think it goes against 'natural law' and breaks the “pure connection between procreation and the unity of sex between partners”.
Sources
www.naturalcycles.com/cyclematters/what-is-birth-control-and-how-does-birth-control-work. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-sanger.
