The History/Evolution of Birth Control *Ladies Only*

[Lady Day]

Okay.

This is NOT going to be a thread about abortion, PERIOD. This is a thread about contraception, as it has been for the past page and a half and discussed rationally.

The abortion talk is leaving the thread.

LD

 

[C-dot]

FooFoogal, I say this with all due respect: By reading your posts and profile, I recognize you are a Christian woman. Your views on birth control are obviously shaped by those of the church. I attended Catholic school and was baptized Roman Catholic (though I did not confirm as I have lifelong held atheistic views), so I understand completely where you are coming from.

However, we should all remember to keep an open mind on this subject and refrain from arguing. The thread title is, after all, the history and evolution of birth control. If we can stick to facts and keep emotions and religion clear out of it, we can probably have a nice discussion.

I apologize Lady Day and LizzieMaine... Do remove my post if it's inappropriate... But I felt it was necessary to point out that when reading each others posts, we must consider what may be shaping our opinions. It's easier to swallow that way.

 

[Foofoogal]

For the record I am not the one that brought up the topic or the organization.

I even tried to steer it back to the Original topic without success. Carry on.

 

[kamikat]

I had a friend who interned at one, and she said it was a positive experience, aside from the reality of seeing how many women could not afford health care. I went there for yearly exams when I was in my early 20's as I could not afford to go elsewhere...it was on a sliding scale as far as fees went. They were able to detect pre-cancerous cells on my cervix that would have gone unoticed otherwise.

I completely agree with you. I started going there at age 15 for yearly exams and the pill. They charged me $5 for the exam and $5 for the pill and always sent me home with a purse full of free condoms to give to my friends who were too embarrassed to come in. I know alot of people have problems with giving free condoms to teens, but if the alternative is STDs, AIDS and babies, it's better that they have the condoms.

 

[kamikat]

FooFoogal, I say this with all due respect: By reading your posts and profile, I recognize you are a Christian woman. Your views on birth control are obviously shaped by those of the church.

This actually leads us to another area of the topic. While I never attended Pre-Cana, my sister did. Back in my mom's day, they were taught about the rhythm method, which was barely effective at all. Today's natural family planning is much more scientific and much more effective. This gives women another reproductive choice. In most developed nations, this works. However, in developing nations where intercourse isn't always consensual, even with the spouse, this isn't an effective method.

 

[LizzieMaine]

This actually leads us to another area of the topic. While I never attended Pre-Cana, my sister did. Back in my mom's day, they were taught about the rhythm method, which was barely effective at all.

Rhythm was very popular in the thirties -- at the time, it was seen as by it's proponents as a "natural and scientific" approach to family planning, so much so that you could buy a book from Sears about it, with the ad copy declaring "Approved By Clergy of Leading Churches!"

It's easy for us to snicker at this today, but the very idea that you could openly buy such a book on such a topic was quite a breakthru from the attitudes of just twenty years earlier, where putting out such a manual could get you tossed in jail. The idea actually appealed to a lot of women as being a way to understand how their own bodies worked, even if it wasn't an especially effective system of birth control.

 

[Red Diabla]

For those of you in Ohio, there's this exhibit which features the largest collection of historical contraceptive devices: http://www.case.edu/affil/skuyhistcontraception/index.html

RD

 

[MissAmelina]

This actually leads us to another area of the topic. While I never attended Pre-Cana, my sister did. Back in my mom's day, they were taught about the rhythm method, which was barely effective at all. Today's natural family planning is much more scientific and much more effective. This gives women another reproductive choice. In most developed nations, this works. However, in developing nations where intercourse isn't always consensual, even with the spouse, this isn't an effective method.

Indeed. I have a book all about this with a little chart you can use to test your cervical mucus to see whether or not you are ovulating. (Well, if the boys weren't already avoiding this thread...they will now.... lol )
I have heard the method works...I know a couple older women who have done it for years. Who knows...I have never gotten around to applying the info.

 

[C-dot]

The idea actually appealed to a lot of women as being a way to understand how their own bodies worked, even if it wasn't an especially effective system of birth control.

It was effective in promoting understanding of the body, which was more knowledge for the bank. Knowledge is power, so you have to try anything, right?

 

[crwritt]

Indeed. I have a book all about this with a little chart you can use to test your cervical mucus to see whether or not you are ovulating. (Well, if the boys weren't already avoiding this thread...they will now.... lol )
I have heard the method works...I know a couple older women who have done it for years. Who knows...I have never gotten around to applying the info.

Why would a grown man be put off by the mention of cervical mucus?
That method of charting mucus as well as basal body temperature is very effective for those trying to conceive.

 

[Viola]

This actually leads us to another area of the topic. While I never attended Pre-Cana, my sister did. Back in my mom's day, they were taught about the rhythm method, which was barely effective at all. Today's natural family planning is much more scientific and much more effective. This gives women another reproductive choice. In most developed nations, this works. However, in developing nations where intercourse isn't always consensual, even with the spouse, this isn't an effective method.

Que?

What country is it where intercourse is always consensual?

 

[Paisley]

Birth Control in the 1820s

Somewhat pre-Golden Era, but interesting:

By the early 1800s, birth control was widely practiced in Europe, especially in France, where by the 1820s it was having a perceptible effect on the birthrate. But knowledge, such as it was, was passed from mother to daughter; it was rare for European censors to permit marriage manuals even to refer to it. In 1826, Richard Carlile, who wrote early sex guides with titles like Every Woman's Book and What Is Love?, advocated inserting a small sponge soaked in quinine an water into the vagina after intercourse. But he was always in and out of the courts on charges of blasphemy or obscenity, and his books, regarded as pornography, were not widely distributed.

In some American cities, by contrast, books discussing birth control were freely on sale as early as the 1820s. Robert Owen's Moral Physiology (1831) remained in print for 40 years, and Charles Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy (1832) reached its 10th edition in the 1870s. Owen favored coitus interruptus but also described the vaginal sponge and the condom or bandrache, made of oiled silk or thin animal skins. Knowlton recommended douching--the vaginal cap, soon to be the preferred method, was not yet available in the 1820s.

In Europe, abstention was common....Some marriages were never consummated at all.​

Source: The Birth of the Modern by Paul Johnson, pp. 508-509.

 

[Lady Day]

Thanks for the info, Paisley

LD

 

[C-dot]

Why would a grown man be put off by the mention of cervical mucus?

He wouldn't - but she said "boys"

Thanks for that, Paisley. In the late 19th century, societal norms and family dynamics made the husband and wife relationship quite stilted and impersonal. Often, the only sexual activity in their marriage would occur for the purpose of conceiving only; so if you had three children, you had gone to bed with your husband three times in your whole marriage.

 

[MissAmelina]

Why would a grown man be put off by the mention of cervical mucus?

fftopic:
I was making a joke because alot of people have a hard time with the sound of the word "mucus." Throw in the word "cervical' and most men I know plug their ears and start going "La La La La!"
Except the ones who are doctors....and those who have taken a great interest in their wife's pregnancy. But I am among a group of "late bloomers" so to speak, who at the ages of 30-45 are either never having kids, unsure, or just trying to conceive for the first time. The men aren't exactly "seasoned" if you know what I am saying. Or maybe they are all wildly immature. Either way, I would not bring it up as a topic of conversation.
Although, I just walked into my husband's study and said, "Cervical Mucus" and he looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, and went back to his video game. So perhaps I am wrong.

 

[C-dot]

Although, I just walked into my husband's study and said, "Cervical Mucus" and he looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, and went back to his video game.

lol lol lol

EDIT: I just popped it into a phone conversation with my guy: he said "excuse me... what?" lol

 

[cecil]

Yeah, but $65 per month is a ton more expensive than $1,000 for an IUD that stays in for 5 years. Plus, my doctor says most women don't have cycles after the first couple of month after insertion.

$1000? Seriously? I knew that healthcare over there was expensive but for $1000 I'm hoping it was made from gold and rubies and inserted deftly by a marshmallow-fingered cherub.

Those old pessary stem IUDs are so dodgy looking. Were women expected to insert them by themselves? Wasn't that difficult as well as painful? I know that you don't need anaesthetic to have an IUD inserted but I can't imagine doing it by yourself. Arrrgh! *runs*

 

[cecil]

Very well said. But there in lies the stigma. It is assumed that all people who can reproduce, want to have children.

LD

This attitude drives me (childfree 22 year old) up the wall. I don't tolerate hormonal birth control very well at all but bringing up tubal ligation or a copper IUD gets me laughed out of the doctor's office.

 

[jayem]

What a wonderful topic!

I went to Catholic schooling from P3 to 12th grade. During my senior year, my religion teacher got married and announced to all of us that she detested birth control because of the church's iffy feelings about it and that the rhythm and prayer method (what we jokingly called it) was the only effective way without straying down the path of sin. Needless to day, 2 months after the wedding she became pregnant.

My mom attended pre-Cana, and as devout as she is, she still sided with science when it came to family planning.

I think it's a bit funny how big of an influence the Church has on family planning. My grandparents had 6 kids together, and when they didn't want anymore... they simply never had sex until my grandmother went through menopause. Sadly, she ended up dying of ovarian cancer shortly after

 

[Lady Day]

Those who have access to old Sears or Wards catalogues from the thirties forward should flip to the drug section, where they'll find Ortho-Gynol and Koromex jelly being openly sold. The advertising copy was very delicate, but make no mistake, the gals of the day knew exactly what it was meant for. It wasn't discussed in public, but mothers and daughters covered it in their Private Talks.

From my Wards '37
A whole page dedicated to feminine needs.

LD