Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America (Cornell Paperbacks)
"Sexual intercourse began," wrote Philip Larkin, "in nineteen sixty-three." Larkin's hyperbole is here thoroughly confounded. Brodie (history, Claremont Graduate Sch.) examines the changes in attitudes, technology, and medical knowledge that led to a 49 percent decrease in the number of children born to white native-born women during the 19th century. She examines an impressive range of original sources, including advertisements, an amazing array of advice books and pamphlets, and a fascinating diary in which Mary Poor, a New England woman, maintained an encoded record of her sexual activity over 23 years of marriage. In addition to describing changes in contraceptive methods, the author intriguingly attempts to trace the diffusion of knowledge and attitudes concerning sexuality and gender relationships. A concluding chapter discusses the "Comstock laws" of the 1880s (effective in some areas until 1965), which discouraged and even criminalized birth control. Highly recommended for libraries wishing to supplement John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman's excellent Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America ( LJ 5/1/88).- Kathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida-St. Petersburg Lib.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.