What We Can Learn From Margaret Sanger and White Feminism
While Margaret Sanger certainly championed the reproductive rights of women, her feminism was flawed. As discussed in the article "Sanger's Legacy Is Reproductive Freedom and Racism" by Julianne Malveaux, Sanger's magazine The Birth Control Review published many articles that embraced the eugenics movement.
I was surprised to read that Sanger had once written, "The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective," and that she believed in the mandatory sterilization of the "insane and feeble-minded." However, as shocking as this statement is, it wasn't unusual for the time period. The feminist movement at that time was geared towards the white woman and the rights that she wanted to have.
Looking back on Sanger's brand of feminism, it is clear how important intersectional feminism is. Sanger championed for women's reproductive rights, but essentially, she felt that certain groups of people should have access to birth control because they should not be able to reproduce. The reading poses an important question: Who determines who should not be able to reproduce? That is an extremely personal decision that should be between a person and their partner.
If Sanger argued that women should have control over their own bodies, her tendency to support eugenics and the forced sterilization of "the feeble-minded" contradict her original point. Her activism was primarily championing for the white woman.
However, I believe that Sanger's questionable racial insensitivity can't cancel out the great activism that she did. She pioneered birth control, woman's reproductive rights, and Planned Parenthood. Especially now, as the Trump administration recently rolled back a law requiring employers to provide employees with birth control coverage without co-payments due to their moral beliefs.
It is evident that, despite Sanger's questionable racial beliefs, that her brand of rampant activism for women's reproductive rights is still needed today.
I was surprised to read that Sanger had once written, "The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective," and that she believed in the mandatory sterilization of the "insane and feeble-minded." However, as shocking as this statement is, it wasn't unusual for the time period. The feminist movement at that time was geared towards the white woman and the rights that she wanted to have.
Looking back on Sanger's brand of feminism, it is clear how important intersectional feminism is. Sanger championed for women's reproductive rights, but essentially, she felt that certain groups of people should have access to birth control because they should not be able to reproduce. The reading poses an important question: Who determines who should not be able to reproduce? That is an extremely personal decision that should be between a person and their partner.
If Sanger argued that women should have control over their own bodies, her tendency to support eugenics and the forced sterilization of "the feeble-minded" contradict her original point. Her activism was primarily championing for the white woman.
However, I believe that Sanger's questionable racial insensitivity can't cancel out the great activism that she did. She pioneered birth control, woman's reproductive rights, and Planned Parenthood. Especially now, as the Trump administration recently rolled back a law requiring employers to provide employees with birth control coverage without co-payments due to their moral beliefs.
It is evident that, despite Sanger's questionable racial beliefs, that her brand of rampant activism for women's reproductive rights is still needed today.
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