As Amy Sohn writes in her colourful new book, “The Man Who Hated Women”, Anthony Comstock made it his mission to stamp out smut
As Amy Sohn writes in her colourful new book, “The Man Who Hated Women”, Comstock put his righteous indignation to use. He harnessed the state’s obscenity law to personally seize offensive books, assist in arrests and shut down saloons, often while brandishing a revolver.
“As one of the most powerful and single-minded men of his time, Comstock dealt a near-century-long blow to women’s health,” Ms Sohn writes. In his efforts to protect women, he arrested many of the midwives and homeopaths who provided essential reproductive care. His federal advocacy spawned various “little Comstock laws” across the states, which often made it a crime to own advice on preventing conception.
But it is not quite right to say Comstock hated women, at least not all of them. He revered his mother, who died in childbirth when he was young, and loved his wife, a prim, tiny woman he called “Wifey”. He just didn’t trust women to think for themselves. His rise coincided with a “rich period of radical publishing”, when activists increasingly argued that marriages should be based on love and respect, with a fair division of labour and pleasurable, consensual, recreational sex.
Ms Sohn devotes much of her book to the lives of some “sex radicals” who riled Comstock with their big ideas about marital harmony and bodily autonomy. Besides Woodhull, she includes Emma Goldman, an anarchist and labour organiser, Margaret Sanger, a birth-control activist, Ann Lohman, a “notorious” abortionist known as “Madame Restell”, and Ida Craddock, a sexologist whose thoughts on mutual sexual pleasure were somewhat complicated by her claim that her lover was a ghost.
A bestselling novelist, Ms Sohn makes clear the depth of her research for her first non-fiction book, occasionally overdoing the details . She sometimes veers into hyperbole and, at the close, casts off her historian’s mantle to give a feminist pep-talk. Yet she is right to highlight the work these women did to define reproductive liberty as an American right, which paved the way for the birth-control pill and.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Video shows man 'harassing' Michelle Ugenti-Rita backstage after Trump supporters booed herThe man asks Ugenti-Rita, a Republican running for Arizona secretary of state, why she 'killed Senator Kelly Townsend's election integrity bills in the Senate' in the video.
Leer más »
Video shows Colorado officer shooting 75-year-old man with stun gunPolice said Michael Clark was unarmed when he was stunned on May 30, and officer who did it has since been fired.
Leer más »
Love Island's Chloe confirms she doesn't fancy Hugo as she discusses ideal manThe blonde beauty was saved by Hugo Hammond during a dramatic recoupling but it doesn't look like love will blossom between them
Leer más »
Man arrested for distributing anti-Olympics flyers from train amid criticism of Tokyo GamesThe man may also be responsible for several other incidents of a similar nature.
Leer más »
Man in central China survives 3 days in flooded garageZHENGZHOU, China (AP) — A man in central China was rescued after spending three days trapped in a flooded underground garage following torrential rains, while at least four bodies were found after a traffic tunnel was drained, a news report said Saturday.
Leer más »