Barrier

"National Woman Suffrage Association"

from the Crusade of the Vote, National History Museum of Women 

Introduction


By the time Margaret Sanger came to the scene in 1913, women’s roles in society were already starting to shift. However, there were a lot of things that women had to overcome to come to the point that they had, and even when Sanger did come around, there was still much to be done. 
​​​​​​​

Women's Roles in Society

In the 1900s to 1910s, women worked in the home: cooking, sewing, cleaning, and raising their children alone. Married women would not have to work. Their husbands would decide everything for her, how many kids they’d have, what she’d wear, where’d she go. ​​​​​​​

Women also didn’t have equal rights as men. They could not vote, work, or recieve an education. They were seen as less than and didn’t have the capability to understand the same as men. ​​​​​​​

"1896 Full Sleeves: Image courtesy of Joan L. Severa​​​​​​​" from the University of Vermont

Comstock Laws

Another thing that Margaret Sanger had to overcome is the Comstock Acts. The Comstock Act was proposed to congress and put in place in 1873 to ban contraceptives with the argument that birth control is obscene. This made distributing anything related to birth control, and birth control itself illegal.

Margaret Sanger describing Comstock Laws from an interview with Mike Wallace

"Comstock Act Document" from the Library of Congress

Because of this, women had to take dangerous measures and get incredibly unsafe abortions. Margaret Sanger’s goal was to rid of these laws and make birth control and family planning implemented into normal American society, making sure everyone had equal access to them.

 ​​​​​​​