Margaret Sanger: Dedication Ahead of Her Time Essay Example

husbands did not want to practice incomplete intercourse. (Archer, J. , 1991) Along with these obstacles, the Catholic Church very strongly believed that “Children troop down from Heaven because God wills it.

He alone has the right to stay their coming, while He blesses at will some homes with many, others with but few or with none at all…. To prevent human life that the Creator is about to bring into being is satanic…an immortal soul is denied existence in time and in eternity. (Archer, J. , 1991) The Catholic Church was not the only opposing authoritative figure Sanger would have to rise against- our own government had enacted a censorship law- the Comstock Law of 1873, signed by President Grant.

This law included an amendment allowing the head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, Anthony Comstock, to open any mail and censor “every obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, paper, letter, writing, print, or other publication of an indecent character. ”(Archer, J. 1991) Sanger had written columns titled, What Every Mother Should Know and What Every Girl Should Know. They were to be published in an issue of the Socialist Call, but under the Comstock Amendment, the complete columns were taken from the publication. (Archer, J., 1991) This kind of censorship would follow Sanger wherever she went, even to other parts of the world, as she strove to make contraceptive information available to every woman everywhere.

Sanger did manage to convince other health care practitioners, wealthy families, and foreign countries, to support her cause but only after years of struggles and hardships. She was imprisoned many times by the US government

and summoned to court hearings more often than that, but each time, her public supporters and those she had helped through her illegal literature, meetings, and the Brownville Clinic she and her sister Ethel Byrne had opened in Brooklyn to distribute contraceptives “for the cure or prevention of disease” (Archer, J. , 1991), flocked the streets and courthouses demanding her release. More often than not, it was granted. Margaret Sanger did not only eventually change the way the United States viewed contraceptives, but also Russia, China, India, Japan, France, and Canada.

She focused many of her meetings on population control, warning that unless women were granted the legal rights to no longer be powerless in preventing pregnancies, there would be “hunger and misery for hundreds of millions of families”. (Archer, J. , 1991) Margaret Sanger demonstrated courage; I admire this quality in a leader more than anything else. Changes often bring about doubts in peoples’ minds.

There are always those who can relate to the problem initiating that change but there will always be those who feel the need to be fixed in the current processes and way of life, whether it is beneficial or not. Sanger had to endure the ridicule and punishment of many of the leaders or our country in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The times in which she lived were not congruent with her advanced thinking; therefore, her courageous spirit was the driving factor leading her to the success she ultimately gained during and after her dedicated life. I also admire Sanger’s independence- she was a powerful opponent to the idea that women should not have control over the number of

children they bore, while at the same time being married and having two children of her own.

Her first husband, Bob Sanger, was not able to fully relate to her cause but she had been an independent thinker since her childhood and did not let the opinions of others, even her own family, sway her thoughts on the subject. Leadership Style and Theory Margaret Sanger went by the Planned Change Theory, acting as a change agent.

Planned change is “the deliberate application of knowledge and skills by a leader to bring about a change” (Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B. L. , 2009). As a change agent, Margaret Sanger needed to be “skilled in the theory and implementation of planned change”.

(Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B. L. , 2009)The Planned Change Theory was developed by Kurt Lewin in the mid-20th century. He broke the theory into three phases which the change agent must go through before the change becomes part of the system- they are unfreezing, movement, and refreezing.

“Unfreezing occurs when the change agent convinces members of the group to change or when guilt, anxiety, or concern can be elicited…for an effective change to occur, the change agent needs to have made a thorough and accurate assessment of the extent of and interest in change, the nature and depth of motivation, and the environment in which the change will occur” (Huston, C.J. , & Marquis, B. L., 2009). Margaret Sanger knew the people of New York needed relief from the burden of childbearing on their households. She also knew that children were a blessing and should always be wanted; therefore she was properly able to

implement unfreezing into the change. Movement occurs when the change agent “identifies, plans and implements appropriate strategies, ensuring that driving forces exceed restraining forces” (Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B. L. , 2009). This step may take time, it took Sanger her whole life, to overcome resistance from authoritative figures and move toward change.

Human thinking and behavior are probably two of the hardest factors to overcome, but when they can be changed for the better, there is a good chance that it will be a permanent if allowed the proper time to become such. Movement leads us into the final stage of the planned change theory- refreezing. In this stage, the change agent “assists in stabilizing the system change so that it becomes integrated into the status quo.If refreezing is incomplete, the change will be ineffective and the pre-change behaviors will be resumed. ” (Huston, C.J. , & Marquis, B. L. , 2009) Once Sanger realized he life goal, she made it her life.

There was nothing more important to her than knowing that she had played a part in making women’s and family’s lives better. Although she was faced with many obstacles, she never gave up on her life mission, probably knowing if she had, the people she had worked so hard for would never know a better existence.It is important that the change agent ensures “that he or she will be on hand until the change is completed. ” (Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B.L. , 2009)

Benefits and Hinders to Planned Change Theory

The planned change theory benefited Margaret Sanger because she was extremely committed to her cause, which is a requirement, especially

in the movement and refreezing stages of this theory. This theory would not have worked if there wasn’t a need from the community for a change. Sanger recognized this need and acting upon, allowing the planned change theory to be effective.

Along with the benefits this theory had for her, there was a major hindrance- the main one being that this leadership style was unknown when Sanger utilized it. The change theory wasn’t even developed until the mid 20th century (Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B. L., 2009) and by that time, Sanger had finished most of the active stages of leadership and was being cared for in a nursing home while she suffered from arteriosclerosis (Archer, J. , 1991). She never had a chance to read studies of how other people in her position had utilized this leadership style so she had to adapt to being the forerunner in women’s causes.She had to learn firsthand that there was resistance and that it would take time to overcome it.

She had to have the endurance to overcome the deterrents in her mission to help the future. Women living during her time were not thought to have the mental capacity or the rights to make decisions about childbirth, so not only did Margaret Sanger have to distribute knowledge on birth control, but she also had to change that way of thinking. Most of Sanger’s work did not come to fruition until late in her life, around the years between 1936 and 1966.In 1936, she won her victory over the Comstock Law when Comstock passed away.

In 1937, the American Medical Association came out officially for birth control under

medical supervision. In 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt publicly announced her support for birth control, and finally at her death on September 6, 1966, the “U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare announced a series of regional conferences to assist states and communities in developing and expanding birth control programs”.

Archer, J. , 1991) Fortunately for the women of our time, Sanger’s work led to the creation of the birth control pill and the ready access to other means of contraceptives without the taboo of wrongdoing. It was unfortunate for Sanger never to know the full reach of her work, as many other improvements did not come during the vital parts of her life. Motivating Factors Margaret Sanger was born into a family very similar to the ones she was trying to help.

Born on September 14, 1883 in Corning, New York, she was one of eleven children. Her parents were both Irish- her mother being Catholic, while her father was a Catholic-born Socialist and atheist. Her father’s radical thinking provoked rage by authorities and also led to a lack of employers willing to hire such an outlaw (Archer, J. , 1991). Because there were so many children to care for, the family never had enough money or material comforts. From a young age, Margaret had an understanding as to why this was.

Most wealthy families in Corning had fewer children and enjoyed more pleasure-filled lives then her own family. In contrast, most families that lived at poverty level had lots of children. Was the key to a better life the ability to limit a woman’s babies to just those she really wanted and the family could afford? ”

(Archer, J. , 1991) As a free- thinker himself, Margaret’s father encouraged his children to do the same.

Margaret decided to be a nurse and was able to attend college by “waiting on tables and washing dishes” (Archer, J., 1991).She was only able to finish three years as she was forced to return home because her mother was dying of tuberculosis. “Watching her mother die filled Margaret with bitter thoughts about marriage, particularly a wife’s submission to exhausting pregnancy after pregnancy. ” (Archer, J., 1991) Many people would call Margaret Sanger a fanatic, but with a childhood reflective of the family she was trying to help, and a father who encouraged her to be radical and think freely, Margaret was destined to become a leader in nursing and an advocate in women’s health.

If Margaret was a fanatic, she was a courageous fanatic who persisted in struggling against overwhelming odds on behalf of women everywhere, in a battle that only the determined dedication of a fanatic could win. ” (Archer, J., 1991)

Works Cited

1. Archer, J. (1991). Margaret Sanger. In Breaking Barriers: The feminist revolution from Susan B.Anthony to Margaret Sanger to Betty Friedan (pp. 72-123).
2. New York, NY: Viking.
3. Huston, C. J. , & Marquis, B.L. (2009). Planned change. In Leadership roles and management functions in nursing (pp. 166-185).
4. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.