Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial
This article explores the debate around widening access to birth control information in the late nineteenth century through a case study of Annie Besant’s participation in the 1877 Knowlton Trial. Examining Besant’s rhetoric at the trial and in related publications, it highlights the public and perf...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2017-11-01
|
| Series: | Open Cultural Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/culture.2017.1.issue-1/culture-2017-0025/culture-2017-0025.xml?format=INT |
| _version_ | 1818177178559315968 |
|---|---|
| author | Janssen Flore |
| author_facet | Janssen Flore |
| author_sort | Janssen Flore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores the debate around widening access to birth control information in the late nineteenth century through a case study of Annie Besant’s participation in the 1877 Knowlton Trial. Examining Besant’s rhetoric at the trial and in related publications, it highlights the public and performative nature of her campaign to facilitate access to birth control information for working-class married couples. With reference to the representation of issues of gender and social class and the shifting focus from the private to the public in Besant’s rhetoric, the article argues that the late nineteenth-century debate around birth control access was a middle-class debate about working-class life and experience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:27:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4d19142006d45019b6c9e95deeee067 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2451-3474 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:27:57Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Cultural Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4d19142006d45019b6c9e95deeee0672022-12-22T00:51:55ZengDe GruyterOpen Cultural Studies2451-34742017-11-011128129010.1515/culture-2017-0025culture-2017-0025Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton TrialJanssen Flore0Birkbeck, University of London, London, UKThis article explores the debate around widening access to birth control information in the late nineteenth century through a case study of Annie Besant’s participation in the 1877 Knowlton Trial. Examining Besant’s rhetoric at the trial and in related publications, it highlights the public and performative nature of her campaign to facilitate access to birth control information for working-class married couples. With reference to the representation of issues of gender and social class and the shifting focus from the private to the public in Besant’s rhetoric, the article argues that the late nineteenth-century debate around birth control access was a middle-class debate about working-class life and experience.http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/culture.2017.1.issue-1/culture-2017-0025/culture-2017-0025.xml?format=INTbirth controlfamily planningannie besantneo-malthusianismfeminismknowlton trial |
| spellingShingle | Janssen Flore Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial Open Cultural Studies birth control family planning annie besant neo-malthusianism feminism knowlton trial |
| title | Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial |
| title_full | Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial |
| title_fullStr | Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial |
| title_short | Talking about Birth Control in 1877: Gender, Class, and Ideology in the Knowlton Trial |
| title_sort | talking about birth control in 1877 gender class and ideology in the knowlton trial |
| topic | birth control family planning annie besant neo-malthusianism feminism knowlton trial |
| url | http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/culture.2017.1.issue-1/culture-2017-0025/culture-2017-0025.xml?format=INT |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janssenflore talkingaboutbirthcontrolin1877genderclassandideologyintheknowltontrial |