The Children's Era: Women and Femininity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)

Quote #4

The problem of bringing children into the world ought to be decided by those most seriously involved—those who run the greatest risks; in the last analysis—by the mother and the child. (63)

Well, now that actually makes sense, but unfortunately, we don't have the child here to ask about things, so really only the mother can make the decision, which is ultimately Sanger's point.

Quote #5

We want to free women from enslaved and unwilling motherhood. We are fighting for the emancipation of the mothers of the world, of the children of the world, and the children to be. (104-105)

Sanger says children can't be free unless mothers are free. These lines come near the end, but she's used this extended metaphor of slavery to describe lack of access to birth control throughout her speech. What effect might this metaphor have had her listeners in 1925 (only sixty years after the end of the Civil War)? How do we respond today to Sanger's use of the language of slavery to describe something that isn't technically slavery?