Choose one of Grant-Davie's constituents of rhetoric: rhetor, audience, constraints, or exigence - and analyze how that constitute affects communication in Margaret Sanger's text.
Here's a link to the Sanger article for your convenience: http://www.bartleby.com/1013/13.html
Here's a brief example of a bit of analysis to help guide you (this is just a taste- and I expect that your analysis will go much further than the following example).
Remember in class I gave you an example of a rhetorical situation where a high-school aged male wants to borrow the car from his parents to go on a date with a high-school aged female. An exploration of exigence, or the motivation behind the guy's need to go on the date is interesting. Biologically, there is a lot going on, and clearly hormones are part of the motive, but there are also broader cultural motives and localized social implications. Let's say that the male is the only one who hasn't had sex among a group of friends who have already begun having sex. In this case, one motive becomes adhering to peer pressure. Furthermore, the broader culture of manhood says that men should be on the prowl looking for sex, and if adherence to the man-box is the other dominant motivator, the sense of exigence for going on the date in the first place is misplaced and misguided. We also know that there are more altruistic reasons for pairing off to date - mutual attraction, connection, shared interests etc., and these motives, I contend, are motives that might lead to a healthy, sustainable relationship, or at least a date that is not a complete disaster.
Your goal in this assignment is to demonstrate that you can do rhetorical analysis. You will have to think critically about who Sanger is writing to, why she writes, and what she hopes to accomplish. I recommend you get in the habit of looking at when and where a piece of writing was published as a jumping off point.
Send me an email or message me in Remind if you have any questions.
In Margaret Sanger’s writing called, Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War, it is presented how many rulers of the nations and their militarist encourage a rise in population. The people living in Germany at the time all had the mindset that the increase in head count would allow for a stronger army to fight wars, more people would pay taxes and wealth would be produced. Yes, the growing population had some benefits but the negatives were way more extreme. Negatives that came about from the overpopulated area of Germany included: not enough fields to feed the people and the importation of goods. Both of these problems that occurred made the people of Germany, especially the women birthing the children, realize that the population needs to come to a hold. Women have many rhetorical situations in which they deal with on an everyday basis. We women can attempt to control the situation but it could sometimes be difficult for one to control and urge they may have. One of the main situations during the 1920s in Germany was that women couldn’t have sex if they didn’t want to have children. At the time protection wasn’t a choice when it came to being sexually active with a man. The rhetorical situation presented was soon to be a thing of the past when birth control was first sold. Birth control allowed for the concern of having children to not be a thought, therefore allowing men and women to do as they so desired as said in Sanger’s writing, “birth control, the real cure for war” (25). Birth control prevented the worry women had of feeling and gaining an attachment to their possible child, being heartbroken, and the burden of becoming pregnant when not wanting that. The 1920s was a time of expansion or overpopulation, but with the help of many the scare of overpopulation was put to a close and “ for she will refuse longer to produce the human food upon which the monster feeds”(Sanger 32). Every person has the monster within himself or herself and the need to feed upon the rhetorical situations we encounter, but with the strength and power individuals have almost anything can be controlled to some extent and the war we have within our own minds can be calmed.
ReplyDeleteYou did a nice job describing the time when this was written. You gave good background knowledge of what was going on historically at the time, which allows the readers to gain a deeper understanding of the literature. It is helpful to see the author's point of view if you know what kind of situation and viewpoint he or she is writing from. It was also helpful for a reader to look back and find the quotes you used. By putting in line numbers, it is easier for readers to re-read a section of a work they may have glossed over before or want to re-analyze.
DeleteHi Brooke,
DeleteDo you think that even if there were no overpopulation that there would still be a need for promoting birth control?
If so, why do you think Sanger is so persistent in connecting overpopulation to war, and thus necessitating birth control?
- Joseph
In Margaret Sanger’s text, she stresses the need for birth control. A rhetor is the person who creates or discovers a need, or exigence. Margaret Sanger is the rhetor because she is explaining why birth control is needed. She claims that overpopulation is the cause of war. In order to stop wars, women need to use birth control so countries won’t become overpopulated. When a country becomes overpopulated, there is a lack of resources available to sustain it, so countries feel the need to expand in order to get the resources it needs. To do this, countries start wars to take over weaker countries and get the resources they need.
ReplyDeleteSanger makes it seem like overpopulation is the only cause of wars and the only way to stop this is to use birth control. As many people know, overpopulation is not the only cause of wars. Sanger is almost making people feel guilty for having children. She places the blame on women and children even though they have no control over whether wars are started or not. She is clearly pro birth control and she wants to convince people to use it by making them feel guilty or blaming them for bigger issues that may not even be their fault to begin with.
I'm so glad you brought up the point that overpopulation is not the main cause for war! When I read that, all I could think about was how ridiculous that statement was. I immediately discredited Sanger when I read that. I knew I would not believe anything else she said after making a statement like that. This shows how taking a position too early in a rhetorical situation could put off those who listen. She would have made herself more credible if she waited until the end to say it or left it out completely. I do not think Sanger is blaming women and children, but rather the government for putting the pressure on women to pro-create for the war.
DeleteI do agree that Sangers argument is only highlighting one problem that can cause war but war has many reasons for its existence. Reasons war many start include the fighting over land,problems with people and the government. Sangers argument is well written but I do believe more work and support on the reason for war should be included the work.
DeleteI agree that Sanger is the rhetor too because she stresses how much birth control should be used to reduce the birth rate. I also agree with how she does put the blame on women and children. Some women didn't have control of how many children they had and in her time era woman were meant to have more since mortality rate was high.
DeleteI agree, Sanger is blaming overpopulation for the causes of war and tension between countries. There are so many other factors that contribute to these situations that she doesn't seem to be considering.
DeleteSanger's Call for Equality When Raising Children
ReplyDeleteIn Margaret Sanger’s article, “Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War”, she discusses the pressure on German women to have as many children as possible so that Germany could have more soldiers for war. She wrote this article in 1920 when women were mainly seen as homemakers responsible for cooking cleaning, and raising children. Germany was in an economic crisis after paying reparations for World War I, and during this time men were responsible for working to pay off the debt. During the war only men were soldiers, so therefore the only role given to women was the provide soldiers for this war. Women were told that their main responsibility to the war effort was to have as many children as possible for the greater good of the country. Instead of bringing children into the world because of a desire to have a family, women were told they had to fulfill a patriotic duty to have children to send off to war. Sanger is writing to countries, specifically Germany, asking them to not see women as merely childbearers. She wants women to be able to have children because they want them and be able to raise them in a loving home. She does not want the government to see women as a resource they use for creating soldiers, and she does not want mothers to have to see the children they love die in war or come back emotionally or physically damaged. She wants to accomplish having the government see women as equal to men and not just as childbearers.
I agree with your statements about the gender roles. This reminded me of the TED talk we watched today in class. He talked about men expected to always be strong and how "like a girl" is taken as an insult. He, like Sanger believes in equal rights.
DeleteHi Megan,
DeleteYou mention that Sanger is writing specifically for Germany, but this piece is published in English. I'm not sure if German citizens are the target audience for this piece.
Hi Megan,
Sanger uses the example of Germany as a means to prove a point- what is the bigger point that Sanger is getting at (for which the German example is a part)?
- Joseph
I agree with how you said that women were not bringing children into the world for the purpose of a family but for the sole reason of serving the country. It just shows the inequality between women and men at the time, and the injustice women had towards pregnancies, as they mostly occurred just to have more hands to do chores or become a soldier.
DeleteMargaret Sanger tells of a time where increases in the population were encouraged. There is strength in numbers so it makes sense that women were having so many children. During an earlier time period, children often did the chores around the house and helped their parents, so larger families were almost a necessity so the parents would be taken care of later in their lives. Margaret Sanger specifically tells of the German population and how an increase would benefit them when it comes to war and money. Although a large population has some advantages there are many more disadvantages that are impacting the current world we live in. Not only does overpopulation mean overcrowding but there is increased poverty, higher demand for food production, pollution, and the spreading of disease. But since the 1920’s there has been a huge shift in the opinions towards contraception. Women in more developed countries have become more educated on protected sex. Birth control was discussed heavily by Sanger, as she seems to be a strong advocate for birth control. The use of contraception will stop unplanned pregnancies which will overall help stabilize the population. But birth control is still not accepted by everyone especially those who practice any sort of religion which tells them to abstain from pre-marital sex. I believe Sanger is writing to other women in hopes of showing them another way of life. She wants them to know that they don’t have to have children if they do not want because of products such as birth control.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting to the board! What do you see as Sanger's purpose? What do you think she wants to achieve? You mention in the later part of your posting (I'm thinking of it as the second paragraph even though you don't have a paragraph break) that birth control advocacy is part of her goal. Why? Why does Sanger need to make this point?
-Joseph
“Women and the New Race” written by Margaret Sanger was published in 1920. At that time World War I recently concluded, leaving Germany defeated and labeled as the aggressor. Here, in Sanger’s chapter “ Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War”, we see Germany being the main example in her efforts to convey her thoughts and ideas. To see where she is trying to get at, we have to understand some historical backgrounds pertaining to Germany first. The Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended WWI, left Germany embarrassed, defeated, and economically unstable. At the same time, German nationalism was on the rise, inspiring the German people to pick themselves up and make Germany great again. If there is one thing that can bring back a wrecked economy, it has to be war. Here is where Sanger is trying to convey her thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAs Germany pushed for its population to increase, we see the burden put onto the German mothers. In this case, it is the German mothers, but the idea can be applied to all women. Sanger explicitly said, “Mother hearts cling to children, no matter how diseased, misshapen and miserable.” The idea that war is linked to a purposeful intention to increase women giving birth and thus potentially increasing one’s military size is rather disheartening. It can be seen as a cycle: as a country approaches war, women are encouraged to have more children, however the mothers have an emotional attachment to their children and don’t want to see them go away. Sanger contends that birth control is “the real cure for war.” If no women are able to give birth, then the higher ups in a country’s government will realize they are unable to support a stable population and won’t engage in war. War requires people to be enlisted in the military, and women giving birth, in the eyes of the German people, is a brilliant idea. The women’s emotions and attachment to their children are not considered in this. At the expense of war, women are dealt the hardest blows. As Sanger is a birth control activist, she wants to keep women safe and end war that fuels this vicious cycle through the use of birth control.
The piece Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War by Margaret Sanger addresses the idea that population growth is the primary factor behind war and conflict between states. She states that the imperialistic agenda of these war-crazed nations is fueled by the wealthy elite and leaders encouraging women to have more children. Considering the time at which this piece was written (1920), one can assume this was Sanger's response to World War 1 (July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918). Which also ties into the numerous points she made about Germany's imperialistic motives, and their rapid population growth. These circumstances as well as Sanger being a well known birth control activist serve as exigence for the claims made in this text. Making arguments about population growth, in which she referenced points made by Darwin about "natural checks" and how growing populations eventually leads to territorial conflicts. Which in turn lead her to the conclusion that birth control and limiting population growth are the only viable, logical, and moral solutions to preventing war such as The Great War.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you tied in how the effect of this "Birth Control Movement" was going through a very acknowledged part in history. I especially enjoyed how you also tied in the theories that Darwin had portrayed, decades before this actually occurred. One thing that I would asked, though, is if you believe that Sanger not only thought of the better of the human race itself but do you think that this whole birth control idea had to do with some selfish attributions or judgments as well?
DeleteIn Battalions of Unwanted Babies, the Cause of War, Margaret Sanger makes the statement that every nation is demanding higher and higher birth rates. Sanger explains that the reason behind this need for overpopulation is backed by the nation claiming overpopulation is required for having a strong army and it’ll assure the country a place among the powers of the world. However, Sanger argues against this concept. The exigence she carries on throughout the piece is that birth control must be established. She delivers this exigence by explaining what happens as a result of overpopulation and how to prevent another war.
ReplyDeleteSanger depicts that overpopulation is a domino effect that inevitably leads towards war. She illustrates how overpopulation leads to the “need for expansion” by explaining that more people means more food supplies and an urgent need for growth in territory. Thus leading nations to use this as an excuse to declare war. Sanger wrote this in order to convince more people by saying overpopulation is a cause of war because at this year, 1920, the first world war had ended. Therefore, Sanger wrote about this issue to appeal to them by giving a solution to prevent wars, birth control. She states, “She will kill war by the simple process of starving it to death.” Sanger is providing the solution for preventing war by claiming if they prevent overpopulation with birth control then they will also prevent another war.
Sanger writes for the creation of birth control to be established as it will starve war to death. She hopes to accomplish preventing another devastating war and hopes to remove women from their “patriotic duty” in the war. She claims that women’s duty was to supply the battalions of babies that would join the armies. Sanger believes this is horrible and attacks these views of “Women is our property” and “Woman is given to us that she may bear children.” Sanger desires for the establishment of birth control to eliminate these objectifying views that existed at this time and to aid in the prevention of any wars.
Hi Israel,
DeleteYou have done an excellent job of recapping Sanger's argument in your first two paragraphs. Then in your third paragraph, you explain that Sanger advocates for birth control as a means to slow or stop the cycle of war.
Do you think that Sanger is really trying to stop war, or is she really using the issue of the war as leverage to help her to advocate for more accessibility for birth control?
Considering Sanger's target audience will help you to further unpack why she is spending so much time asserting that war can be prevented if birth control is more accessible.
Overall- you have done well!
-Joseph
In Margaret Sanders article “Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War”, she discusses the issue of overpopulation throughout the world and how detrimental the effects are for every living thing that exists in it. She states that countries encourage women to continue to have children so it will increase the size of that countries army, leading to more success. These larger populations meant, “more people to produce wealth, more people to pay taxes…more soldiers to protect the wealth” (5, Sanders). However, these countries did not balance out the negatives. With a larger population, that means less living space, less resources, less food, and less jobs.
ReplyDeleteWomen’s roles in society during the 1920’s, when Sanders wrote this article, was mostly to be a housewife and to care for their kids. She writes this article during this time period when women did not have nearly as many freedoms as they do now. Her article targets men and women who believe that women are not equal to men, and people who believe women simply serve as the carrier of children. In the 1920’s birth control was not widely accepted as it is now. By writing this article she is getting the word out that birth control is the only real solution to war, which was a big issue during that time period. Instead of producing as many children as possible, preventing unwanted pregnancies will halt the suffering of ill kids, whose parents are financially incapable of providing them with the right care. Sanders message is for women who are not ready, or capable of caring for kids to take birth control, which will also ease the burden of overpopulation.
Sanger*
DeleteExcellent idea using the time period to support your claim. In my opinion discovering when this piece was written only strengthen the main message of Sanger's work. I like to believe that birth control was only the first step in Sanger's message, and she was really working towards a world where women have just as much decision capabilities as men.
DeleteI agree with your analysis and I also noticed the time period where women had little freedom, even regarding their own pregnancies. Also, looking at the timing of this piece, I agree that her main target audience is women but also men. She is aiming this message towards men because, as you said, in the 1920's, birth control was not simply accepted and men did not have the education or awareness of birth control and the affect it can have on lessening/ending war. The overpopulation problem, and the result of it increasing war, leads Margaret Sanders to try to inform middle aged men and women about this issue and to show them they can have a choice as to whether to have a child or not.
DeleteWhen given a story or article that pertains to the art of persuasion, one great way to analyze the written piece is to find its rhetoric. In the article that Margaret Sanger wrote during the early 1900's, she speaks about the "true" cause of war, the "need" for population control, and for the changing and convincing of the young, brute minds of young women during the 20's. THe reason I say brute is that, back then, what would seem like an idea with actual understanding and moral values, it would be brushed off because "They were raised to be wholesome women. to get married and have the 'perfect' life." The art part of this article is the humane trial and hints of persuasion. This article is giving hints to the target audience to use birth control to decrease the population because more and more people are starting up wars. However, because this was during a time with such turmoil and curiosity, taking birth control for simply that reason would not work out for Sanger's and for the population of the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe 1920's was an era of social changes and cultural conflicts. During this time, alcohol became illegal, women were fighting for their rights to vote, and suffering became a house hold word. However, this article can be seen during any time and still give the same influence it gave the people during those times. The rhetoric of this article is to make people understand that there is enough people in the world and we should not "overflow" mother Earth. The audience that Sanger's is trying to convince is not only women, but during that time, men as well. Her article surrounding the idea that birth control was "the real cure for war" was also fighting for women's rights to be their own people and not have to live the Stereotypical life style that a man had the say in everything they did. And like the great Suffragette Mary Wollstonecraft said, "I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves."
I agree with the point that advocating for birth control was kind of like advocating for women's rights. If they used birth control, women may have felt more free and empowered because it was their choice whether to have children or not. That goes against the stereotypical stay at home housewife who cooks, cleans, and takes care of the kids life that was expected of them. I also agree with your statement that this article could be read at any time and it would have the same influence. I think the message that the Earth shouldn't be overpopulated will always be important.
DeleteWhen you talk about birth control to not be a strong enough argument, I think your right on point. No one wants to get back into a war that just happened. However, most middle class or lower women at the time were only educated to the level of a middle school student. She might have been aiming at politicians or maybe the few educated women. You got all the subtle hints she had in her piece though.
DeleteMargaret Sanger’s “Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War” is targeted towards women because in the year 1920 the nineteenth amendment passed which gave women the right to vote but some didn’t want to vote because their mindset was that they were inferior to men. Sanger wrote to explain to women that they have the power to change the future, they can make choices, and have their own voice in what happens. Using war was how she explained her reasoning that a choice can be made, by saying that having babies causes overpopulation which leads to war which could all be prevented by women who make the decision to not have children, or not to have them unless they want them. Sanger hoped to get through to women that they have more influence than they realize and they should take action by making decisions for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn The Battalion of Unwanted Babies by Margaret Sanger, she describes the troubling effect overpopulation has on maintaining peace during a time where the world faced the eminent doom of world war I. However, Sanger also manages to bring forth an important issue pertaining the necessity of birth control and a need for the establishment of women's rights. The way she presents this argument though, illustrates the constraints she faced when composing this piece and how she had to appeal to the masses before proposing her desired claim. Sanger used the initial argument of overpopulation being the causation of the war, so she could advocate the use of birth control and enhanced women's right as the solution. The reason Sanger does this is because she understands that the majority of her intended audience primarily includes American men, who during that time period probably wouldn’t have agreed with Sanger if she had just out-right advocated the need for birth control. Through out the piece Sanger even reinforces her idea of birth control by supporting it with her initial claim about overpopulation being the reason for the war. The reason she does this is because she wants to continue to make her case about birth control while still maintaining this illusion of legitimacy to her audience. This shows specifically how Sanger faced constraints with proposing her initial argument because of social norms during the time. Yet in the end, Sanger was still able to generate a solid argument that appealed to her target audience while still conveying her overall message.
DeleteIn Battalions of Unwanted Babies the cause of war, Sanger talks about all the countries that have increased birth rates and ones who hadn’t. She uses Germany as an example because of how much the population increased rapidly. Since Germany increased rapidly it meant more resources are needed. Sanger realized the rapid birth rates of Germany and other countries will cause war. She starts to advocate Birth control as a way to decrease the birth rate in countries. I believe birth control would be considered a constraint because it has both positive and negative effects. Even back then birth control probably wasn’t super effective and it really isn’t now. it just reduces the probability of women having children. I believe she’s writing to woman and important people who are powerful and can make a change to their government. She wants to get the message across of reducing the birth rate in countries and tell woman they’re the people who have the choice in participating in the solution or not.
ReplyDeleteExactly! The rapid birth rates and population growth were used by Sanger as means to point the reasons countries go to war and invade other nations. The particular event that she is referring to in this text was actually World War One ("The Great War"), in which Germany's rising populations would lead to that conflict. Thus she argues birth control and population limitation would act as preventatives to situations such as the ones described here.
DeleteWomen and the War of Equality
ReplyDeleteI believe Margaret Sanger was really trying to reach out to other women around the world. If you can recall, this article was published in 1920. Now if you know your history you will know that it was this SAME year that women in America gained the right to vote. So you can really piece these things together and understand that it was around this time that women were seriously tired of being pushed to the side by men. In her article she states a quote from Napoleon, “Woman is given to us that she may bear children...” Then he goes on to say, “Woman is our property, we are not hers…” I believe the women that hear this will be completely outraged. She also claims that the nations basically start wars and blame them on the fact that population size keeps increasing. So therefore, they start wars over land mass and then blame it on the baby booms. Now Sanger provides a rhetorical solution to this issue and basically says, “Hey! I have an idea, let’s just stop having children! If this is the case then the nations would not have a reason to start wars and families would not have to worry about losing loved ones (particularly the men in the army).” I also believe that she wants other men to see this article because towards the end she starts explaining the fears of the pain and agony that women endure during a war. This would hopefully make the men contemplate on the equality of women.
I agree with your analysis, Sanger wrote this piece because women had received the right to vote. I liked how you analyzed the use of Napoleon's quote because you're right it would aggravate women. But aren't baby booms what happen after wars when the men come home from combat? I guess the children that results from that would cause the other wars.
DeleteConsidered to be the bloodiest war in history, Sanger’s paper shortly followed the WWI’s end. The U.S. may have been pro-war when Pearl Harbor occurred, but when the smoke cleared and the bodies were totaled, no one was. Margaret Sanger exploits this in “XIII. Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War,” published in 1920 by Women and the New Race. She adamantly asserts that high birth rates growing fasting than food production causes overpopulation, spurring expansion. This sense of manifest destiny in other countries is what ultimately causes war. Her statistics support this when many countries with high birth rates, which include Germany, Russia, Italy, were the first to enter the war. Now at the time, “birth control,” was just a coined, powerful phrase used by “radicalists” like Margaret Sanger. She was arrested and jailed early on for opening the first birth control clinic and distributing newspapers pertaining to contraception. However, she was fighting for a different reason. Sanger’s unrelenting support for birth control and even the name of the publisher, Women and the New Race, spells birth control. Feigning more interest than normal in war worked only to catch people’s attention. Most women had ninth grade education levels in this period, indicating this scholarly paper was not directed at them. Primarily, she took aim at the politicians, the real people with power. There were laws against letting the public know of contraception and distributing contraception. I believe this paper targets those laws. These politicians could alter or abolish those laws. It’s also worthy to mention that several soldiers for WWI were diagnosed with STD’s. This prompted the first government campaign into educating people on contraception and abstinence. Sanger’s paper served as a wakeup call for the scientific community to recognize unprotected sex as a public health problem and inquire for an answer to it.
ReplyDeleteDescribing Sanger as a "radicalist" is a good point being made. To us, her arguments seemed valid with truth behind it. However to her contemporaries, her points were disregarded and dismissed. We have to step back and look at the bigger picture sometimes, and I feel you touch upon this idea. By mentioning that several soldiers were diagnosed with STD's, you strengthen your claim. You can springboard from that idea and talk about one of Sanger's main points she is trying to make.
DeleteMargaret Sanger writes this essay to essentially propose to the world an idea she seems to have a passion for, one of the very first instances of birth control. In “Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War” a deeper meaning is implied that women should have the right to choose, if not as much as men, at least enough to decide whether or not they wish to bring a child into this world. However, due to the mindset of the time period, the 1920’s, this idea was considered incredibly outlandish or nontraditional. Women could hardly vote let alone speak their mind around men. This could easily be viewed as an assault on the beloved idea modern family that was ingrained so deeply into american society, so Sanger takes advantage of another staple of the early 20th century, World War I. she writes the piece as an informative one, displaying the correlation of overpopulation to the destruction of war. Regardless if these claims are true or not, the message still stands. Towards the end the work Margaret steers the direction of the narrative towards a revelation. In the primarily man controlled society they lived in, human reproduction was one of the few things women had influence over. Therefore, she is calling on the potential mothers to be the ones to end the nonsensical feeding of violence justified by overpopulation, but more importantly to empower themselves and other women with the ability of choice.
ReplyDeleteI also think that back when this article was written, many people (mostly men) believed that this idea of equality for women was nonsense. Little did they know that this would not be the case in the future.
DeleteIn Margaret Sanger’s piece, “Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War”, she talks about birth rates and the need to control these birth rates using birth control. The article talks about the positives and negatives of having a very large population. Many countries think that having a large population leads to a great army and is required to assure the country is in its proper place among the powers of the world. But, the negatives of having a huge population are much more intense. These large populations will lead to violence and cause tension between people and countries. Sanger claims how birth control can fix the problem of overpopulation and violence. According to the article, the more women that take birth control the less problems the countries will face. Sanger acts as the rhetor because she is creating the need for women to use birth control. Sanger is hoping to accomplish that she can get more and more women to take these pills even though she does not know how it will affect people in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIn Battalions of Unwanted Babies the cause of war, she is basically explaining the rapid rate of overpopulation and the need birth contol. Since back in that time period birth control wasnt very popular and because of religion it was forbidden for women to even think about contraceptive measures.Women literally had no rights because of the male perspective that they were only to have the role as a housewife and a childbeare.It was like it was being forced on women to have unwanted babies even if they couldnt take care of them just for the pleasure of the man.So therefore without the use of birthcontrol the populations of these countries continued to increase and cause problems due to overpopulation, theres only so many resources you could supply and Sanger express that it let to violence and wars. Because of overpopulation it led way to more men being able to go to war and getting killed.Sangers work prompted serious message that forced campaigns on how to be abstinent and careful.
ReplyDeleteIn Sanger's writings she is trying to address the masses. She doesn't call out any demographic specifically, but provides reasons for readers to look at ones in particular. She uses examples that everyone is not exempt from, grouping everyone together. She speaks of the great wars between countries and what she perceives to be the motive behind them; overpopulation. She brings up birthrate quite a bit to prove that population is growing, then the facts of food production not increasing as sharply, causing the population growth to turn into overpopulation. The reason this whole population idea is the center is because she wants to push for the acceptability of contraception. She believes that if a woman is allowed to partake in the use of a birth control, that the issue of this overpopulation leading to violent growth of countries will diminish or stop all together.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view, I think Sanger is using that population idea to create more acceptance towards contraception. But do you think she also advocated for birth control as it would lessen some of the weight on women's shoulders at that time? I think she wanted to also fight for women's rights.
DeleteIn Battalions of Unwanted Babies the Cause of War”, Sanger talks about the birth rates of different countries during times of war. She claims that the war is caused by the high birth rates. In the piece she stated that many of these children being born were unwanted. Women would only have children in order to please their husbands. She states that the overpopulation will lead to more people paying taxes. It is clear that Sanger believes women should have the right to birth control. The overpopulation led for more men being sent off to war. Sanger claims that the issue of war and overpopulation would be solved if women had more access to birth control.
ReplyDelete