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The Margaret Sanger Story and the Fight for Birth Control
Book by Lader, Lawrence
348 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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April 22, 2022Did you know that this co-founder of NARAL Pro-Choice America had such radical ideas on abortion that even Margaret Sanger disproved? That's saying a lot.
April 20, 2009
If Woman of Valor Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America by Ellen Chesler is to be believed, then this biography of Sanger is not. According to Chesler, Lawrence Lader 'tried to present a more balanced and candid portrait in The Margaret Sanger Story, but Sanger herself edited the final manuscript, and it tends to recapitulate the many myths she created about her life.' Chesler had already alluded to some of these 'creations' in the previous paragraphs of the Introduction, including the two 'self-aggrandizing (autobiographies) Sanger wrote in the 1930s filled with petty deceits and and outright duplicity'.
At the end of Chapter 4, when Sanger was facing arrest for violating the Comstock Law, she preferred to flee the country and abandon her children (she'd already separated from her first husband) rather than pay a fine and temporarily give up the fight for birth control. However, Leder's description of events had me thinking I was hearing strains of the theme from Rocky all the while she making these choices. Maybe I was supposed to be impressed with her selfless devotion to 'the cause'? I wasn't.
I read for awhile longer but it only got worse. I gave up on page 88. When I finally picked up Chestler's book -- presumably not a Pro-Life, nor an anti-Sanger book -- I discovered Leder's book was riddled with lies. Leder claimed Sanger's mother had abandoned her Catholic faith upon marriage to a non-Catholic; she hadn't. Sanger and all her siblings were baptized, confirmed and attended Catholic schools. Chesler, of course, had the advantage of being able to write after Sanger's death, when she didn't have to please this formidible personality before publication. Leder was writing under Sanger's thumb.
Whatever "side" you are on, you won't find much truth in Leder's book. Don't waste your time!
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I've watched the 1957 interview Mike Wallace did with her twice now and I just had to find out what made this woman come to believe, say and do what she did. You read some biographies because you are -- or want to be -- inspired by the individual's lifestory. You read others because you wonder what happened to make them the way they were.
Checked this out of our local library. It's still too early to say if this will be objective, although from the title, I highly doubt it.
At the end of Chapter 4, when Sanger was facing arrest for violating the Comstock Law, she preferred to flee the country and abandon her children (she'd already separated from her first husband) rather than pay a fine and temporarily give up the fight for birth control. However, Leder's description of events had me thinking I was hearing strains of the theme from Rocky all the while she making these choices. Maybe I was supposed to be impressed with her selfless devotion to 'the cause'? I wasn't.
I read for awhile longer but it only got worse. I gave up on page 88. When I finally picked up Chestler's book -- presumably not a Pro-Life, nor an anti-Sanger book -- I discovered Leder's book was riddled with lies. Leder claimed Sanger's mother had abandoned her Catholic faith upon marriage to a non-Catholic; she hadn't. Sanger and all her siblings were baptized, confirmed and attended Catholic schools. Chesler, of course, had the advantage of being able to write after Sanger's death, when she didn't have to please this formidible personality before publication. Leder was writing under Sanger's thumb.
Whatever "side" you are on, you won't find much truth in Leder's book. Don't waste your time!
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
I've watched the 1957 interview Mike Wallace did with her twice now and I just had to find out what made this woman come to believe, say and do what she did. You read some biographies because you are -- or want to be -- inspired by the individual's lifestory. You read others because you wonder what happened to make them the way they were.
Checked this out of our local library. It's still too early to say if this will be objective, although from the title, I highly doubt it.
June 9, 2017
If you want to be informed on the struggle for women's rights this is a must read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews