...not using birth control, but that is simply not true. That statement applies to a small amount of women, but not all women in general. She also uses fallacies and other rhetorical devices throughout her speech. She uses moral reasoning within her speech particularly when she used the phrase, “religious scruples” and when she refers to those who oppose birth control and refers to them as a “group who are diseased and feeble-minded”. Her use of words not only evokes emotion, but implies the need to take action. One way Sanger addresses arguments and counterarguments is when she brings up the point of the two sexes “mixing together.” She also brings up the point that the people who oppose birth control are the same people who were opposed to women working outside of the home or mingling with the opposite sex. But, Sanger also points out that these same people had no objections to women to women intermingling with men when they attend church. Sanger accomplishes in this counterargument the double standard that I put on women. She successfully shows in her counterargument that women were allowed certain freedoms, and seeing that women could handle those freedoms, they most certainly could handle the freedom to choose to practice...
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...Bias, Rhetorical Devices, and Argumentation Taylor Saul COM/220 December 2, 2012 Dr. Tonya Laliberte Bias, Rhetorical Devices, and Argumentation “The Morality of Birth Control” by Margaret Sanger (1921) Write a 350- to 500-word response to the following questions: * What are some examples of bias, fallacies, and specific rhetorical devices in the speech you selected? * How did the speaker address arguments and counterarguments? * Were the speaker’s arguments effective? Explain your answer. First off, the speaker sent out letters to those she knew would agree with her and, also, to those who opposed her. She wanted to get together a group of people, on both sides of the fence, and have a discussion within the town about the topic of birth control. She goes on to talk about how every advance that women have made, has been met with opposition. She talks about when women fought for higher education, it was said that they would become immoral and would lose their place in the sanctity of the home. The one place that she says where men and women were on equal ground, was in the church. Their stance was that every man and every woman should be given the opportunity of Birth Control. They believed that a woman should have the right over her own body, whether she shall be a mother or not. Their first step was to get the backing of the medical profession so that their laws may be changed. They wanted motherhood to be a choice, rather than one of chance. ...
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...Margaret Sanger, the founder of the first birth control clinic in the United States, was arrested in 1916. At this time, there was a law prohibiting the distribution of information regarding contraception. Unfortunately, with the new “sexual freedoms” that the Roaring Twenties exhibited for women, thousands of women were baring more children than they wanted, more frequently than they wanted. With limited to no access to women’s health clinics, childbirth left many women too ill and weak to work. Over 250,000 women wrote to Sanger seeking information and advice regarding how to prevent more unwanted pregnancies. With the opening of the first birth control clinic in 1916, and her tireless efforts to support other clinics across the country, Margaret Sanger began a movement advocating for women’s health rights. In the American Promise textbook, the authors explain how Sigmund Freud, an every-day household name, was promoting his ideas that, as sexual beings, we should be able to “seek pleasure without guilt.” These Freudian concepts led to Americans exploring several ways of experiencing pleasure. Many of these newfound “pleasures” led to the prohibition of alcohol, challenged gender boundaries, and the expansion of mass media and communications. This roaring outrage of pleasure in the 1920s became known as the “roaring twenties.” While flappers were known for challenging the traditional gender boundaries through their sexual freedom, there were thousands of women who suffered...
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...Connecticut’s anti-contraception statute was part of a national movement to criminalize birth control. The driving force behind that movement was Connecticut native Anthony Comstock, “a prominent anti-vice crusader who believed that anything remotely touching upon sex was obscene.” Bolger v. Youngs Drug Prods. Corp., 463 U.S. 60, 69 n.19 (1983). After moving to New York following his service in the Civil War, Comstock founded the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. This vigilante vice squad initially performed arrests and seized obscene materials, but eventually began lobbying for anti-obscenity legislation. By 1873, Comstock had successfully lobbied Congress to pass an anti-obscenity bill to suppress the trade and circulation of obscene literature and articles. The so-called “Comstock Act” made it illegal to use the United States Postal Service to sell or distribute “any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion.” See 42 Cong. Ch. 258, March 3, 1873, 17 Stat. 598. Soon thereafter, twenty-four states enacted their own “mini-Comstock Acts” to restrict the contraceptive trade on a state level. In Connecticut, circus impresario P.T. Barnum (by then a state senator from Bridgeport) took up the anti-obscenity torch. Barnum had become involved in politics during the lead up to the Civil War, loudly and repeatedly denouncing slavery. Following the Civil War, he took up the cause of the New England...
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...Margaret Sanger was born on September 14, 1879 in Corning, New York. Margaret was the sixth of eleven children in a Roman Catholic family. Her parents were both socialists and early activists in the women’s suffrage movement. She attended Claverack College and Hudson River Institute, but was forced to drop out due to her mother’s death. However in 1900 she went back to school at White Plains Hospital and Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. In 1902 she managed to obtain her nursing degree and soon after married an architect/socialist named William Sanger. They had three children together, Grant, and Stuart. However, their youngest child died at the age of four due to pneumonia. Her marriage to William fell through, however, and they divorced in...
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...My reformer was Margaret Sanger who was a birth control activist and sex educator. The reformer I chose to date is Jacob Riis. Jacob Riis was a muckracker who used photojournalism to expose the impoverished conditions of the lower class in New York City. Margaret Sanger advocated that access to birth control and proper sex education would markedly improve the lives of underpriveleged women. Sanger primarily focused on the effects that birth control would have on improving the lives of impoverished women and their children whereas Riis focused on all aspects of poverty and it's effect on the lower classes’ daily life. Sanger believed that if women could control the size of their families they would be able to better care for and provide for...
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...January 15th 2012 Com/220 Argumentation assignment The speech I chose to read instead of hear was “The morality of birth control” by Margaret Sanger (1921). I chose this speech because I have worked in the healthcare field for over 10 years now, this subject truly catches my attention. Its also the reason why for my final project I have chosen to speak about abortion and pro choice debates. After reading the article I picked up on bias’ right of the bat. The fact that women have been viewed as immoral for wanting to control the size of their families or to act as responsible adults. Margaret talks about how many different groups were invited to the conference that was held and everyone acted with dignity except one group. This group was the religious “church” going individuals. This group views birth control as a “sin” so to speak and think it’s against gods will. I can vouch for this personally. I recently took a new job almost three months ago with a very well known catholic organization. We have amazing benefits except they will not cover ANY form of contraception or fertility treatment. This means I have to pay out of pocket for my prescriptions of birth control. A choice I have chosen as a single/divorced mother of three. I don’t want to have any more children, but in their eyes I am being immoral. To me some of the fallacies or misconceptions with this issue that they are basically stating that religion and worship make a person moral. How can that be when...
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...sponges, and medicated tampons. Due to the easy access to these devices to the public, both countries created a bill to prohibit the distribution of contraceptives across state lines and through the mail. Before the use of birth control in America, many women had opted for abortions because they either had too many children to take care of or they were simply not ready to parents. In the early 19th century, abortions could be dangerous. Too many abortions often lead the woman’s death because the technology was not yet available to try and properly prevent internal hemorrhaging. In 1878, Aletta Jacobs established the first birth control clinic in Amsterdam. The first birth control clinic, in the United States, was opened in 1916 by Margaret Sanger and was located in Brooklyn, New York. The clinic opened by Margaret was later closed by the police and she was remanded to jail for thirty days because she was...
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...Morality of Birth Control" by Margaret Sanger, (1921)Margaret Sanger uses several method's within her speech, "The Morality of Birth Control", to tell her strong views on the topic. She uses a strong sense of bias, fallacies, and colorful rhetoric devices in her speech to not only get the attention of the audiences, but to relay a sense of urgency for the actions that need to be taken. One bias that Sanger uses is toward the idea of motherhood without birth control being condition of ignorance and chance. This may be the case for a small number of women, but it is not accurate to categorize all women who do not use or believe in birth control in this manner.Margaret Sanger uses vivid examples of fallacies and rhetorical devices in her speech. She uses the words "religious scruples" to deliver the basic need for power and morality. When Sanger refers to the opposition to birth control she refers to them as "this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent entirely upon the normal and fit members of society for their support." Her vivid imagery evokes emotion, and the need for aggressive action. In one way that the speaker addressers arguments and counterarguments is when she talks about the point of the two sexes "mixing together." Sanger talksabout the point that opponents to birth control are the same people that were opposed to women working outside the home and mixing with the opposite sex. Margaret Sanger does an excellent job of pointing out...
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...The Birth Control Pill: Providing Surprises In Life Allison Wang California Polytechnic University Pomona Professor Lord ANT 350 Research Paper Abstract The pharmaceutical field has overcome countless medical feats since the early times. While “the pill” itself was considered a brand new invention, the idea of creating a birth control pill was not. Since the old times primitive condoms were made from animal intestines and fish bladders. However, it wasn’t until after Margaret Sanger’s multiple convictions and persistent attitude, that a judge ended the Comstock era, providing Sanger with the opportunity to stress the importance of having birth control in th for of a pill to the public. In less than a decade after Sanger persuaded Pincus to begin working on the contraceptive, Pincus created a pill that tested to be 100 percent effective. However, in 1957, while the Food and Drug Adminsitration approved the pill, it was not approved as a contraceptive but rather as a treatment for women that experienced sever menstrual disorders. It was not until 1960 that the drug was actually approved as a contraceptive. Despite this, many controversies arose from the contraceptive leading to its many transformations. Because the original pill had many side effects that were largely ignored, a newer pill with a smaller dosage was created, coming with a decreased risk of developing ovarian cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease, and deficiency anemia in the users. Later on...
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...Larry Werst has been a construction supervisor for Midwestern Construction for many years. He was known for getting the job done close to schedule and doing it right. Many rumors were going around that Larry was an alcoholic and he was drinking on the job. Many co-workers noticed his bad-breath odor smelling like alcohol and always purchasing two cokes. When Larry was confronted about the rumors, Larry denied he was drinking and the manager told Larry if he was ever caught he would be fired from the company. Larry stated the cokes were for him and his foreman. Almost a year later, when construction was in full swing again, the men on the job working with him noticed he was always drinking a quart of milk and wondered if it was “spiked” and Larry was using the milk to mask the bad breath odor. Larry had bad speech habits therefore unable to use that as an indicator of him drinking. During his last job, it was a little behind schedule due to the inability to get good carpenters at the beginning of the season and the job was going OK. Larry had actually never been caught drinking. The rumors at first were ignored because they did not represent a safety risk to themselves or others. The manager has suspensions that Larry is drinking on the job but has no sufficient proof. In any type of disciplinary situation, Larry would be innocent until proven guilty. No disciplinary action could be taken based solely on rumor and suspension. The next step that management would be able to do...
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...Despite all the obstacles that she encountered, she believed that women needed to be informed about contraceptive methods and they should be the one to decide whether to get or not pregnant. Therefore, she figured that the only way to change the Comstock Law was to challenge them. In 1914, Sanger wrote another article for “The Woman Rebel,” a newspaper for women promoting women’s rights including the right to practice birth control. As a result, she again had problems with the law, but that didn’t stop her. In 1916, Margaret Sanger assisted by her sister opened her first birth control clinic in Brooklyn New York where she gave speeches and educated women about birth control and advocated women to prevent unwanted pregnancies. She worked secretly,...
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...Introduction In 1965, Griswold, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, worked with her associate Buxton, a licensed physician who was the Medical Director of this League in New Haven. They gave advice to married couples concerning the proper and safe use of various contraceptives. After examining the wife of a certain couple, they prescribed a specific contraceptive device for her, knowingly violating a Connecticut law against the use of contraceptives. In accordance with the portion of the law stating that “any person who assists, abets, counsels, causes, hires or commands another to commit any offense may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender,” Griswold and Buxton were fined one hundred dollars each (LLI Griswold v. Connecticut). They appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that the Connecticut law was unconstitutional because it violated the right to privacy within marriage, a right not specifically stated in the Constitution, but one which they believed was essential for the existence of the rights guaranteed in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments (McBride). Legitimacy of the Right of Privacy/ Court Decision The primary argument against the law was that there is an understood right of privacy within marriage. The opinion of the court as presented by Justice William Douglas was that the Bill of Rights created “zones of privacy” in the previously mentioned amendments, and that these zones cannot exist...
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...The speech I chose to read instead of hear was “The morality of birth control” by Margaret Sanger (1921). I chose this speech because I have worked in the healthcare field for over 10 years now, this subject truly catches my attention. Its also the reason why for my final project I have chosen to speak about abortion and pro choice debates. After reading the article I picked up on bias’ right of the bat. The fact that women have been viewed as immoral for wanting to control the size of their families or to act as responsible adults. Margaret talks about how many different groups were invited to the conference that was held and everyone acted with dignity except one group. This group was the religious “church” going individuals. This group views birth control as a “sin” so to speak and think it’s against gods will. I can vouch for this personally. I recently took a new job almost three months ago with a very well known catholic organization. We have amazing benefits except they will not cover ANY form of contraception or fertility treatment. This means I have to pay out of pocket for my prescriptions of birth control. A choice I have chosen as a single/divorced mother of three. I don’t want to have any more children, but in their eyes I am being immoral. To me some of the fallacies or misconceptions with this issue that they are basically stating that religion and worship make a person moral. How can that be when there have been so many accusations and cases of catholic priests...
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...Stephanie Thompson Weller, Worth GE 217 Sunday, February 26, 2012 Week 10/ Assignment 1 Gender Issues: Who has Faced Greater Challenges; Men or Women? Males and females both face great trials and hardships throughout their lifetimes. Although the two both endure their share of adversities, it is always harder for one gender than the other. In this country it has always been the male figures that receive special treatment and circumstance. Since the founding of our great country, The United States of America, it has been women that have faced the greater and more daunting challenges. Our ancestors founded the first American colony in 1585. Ever since that day it has been a long and tedious journey for woman as a whole. Women were expected to hold the future of our country in their hands while, at the same time, they were looked at as lesser beings (Goldberg). Women were not given the same luxuries as men, but they were made to endure much greater responsibilities as well as workloads (Buchanan). Women were expected to bare children, take care of the home, wash the clothes, farm, and cook. They were responsible for making linens and clothing, taking care of their men, and many more tasks (Goldberg). As time went on America, as a people, expanded and progressed. As a country we began to better ourselves and pave the way for future generations. One thing that remained the same throughout the years, decades, and even eras was the social status of American women (Goldberg)...
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