...January 15th 2012 Com/220 Argumentation assignment The speech I chose to read instead of hear was “The morality of birth control” by Margaret Sanger (1921). I chose this speech because I have worked in the healthcare field for over 10 years now, this subject truly catches my attention. Its also the reason why for my final project I have chosen to speak about abortion and pro choice debates. After reading the article I picked up on bias’ right of the bat. The fact that women have been viewed as immoral for wanting to control the size of their families or to act as responsible adults. Margaret talks about how many different groups were invited to the conference that was held and everyone acted with dignity except one group. This group was the religious “church” going individuals. This group views birth control as a “sin” so to speak and think it’s against gods will. I can vouch for this personally. I recently took a new job almost three months ago with a very well known catholic organization. We have amazing benefits except they will not cover ANY form of contraception or fertility treatment. This means I have to pay out of pocket for my prescriptions of birth control. A choice I have chosen as a single/divorced mother of three. I don’t want to have any more children, but in their eyes I am being immoral. To me some of the fallacies or misconceptions with this issue that they are basically stating that religion and worship make a person moral. How can that be when...
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...The Morality of Birth Control" by Margaret Sanger, (1921) Margaret Sanger uses bias, fallacies and rhetorical devices in her speech, “The Morality of Birth Control” to convey her views on this topic. One example of bias that she uses is Religious Bias when she states that the church aims to keep women moral by keeping them in fear and in ignorance and that the church opposes the progress of woman on the ground that her freedom would lead to immorality. Not all churches believe that woman should not be independent. Sanger uses fallacies when she describes one group of people as being “Diseased, feeble-minded, and of the pauper element dependent upon the normal and fit members of society for their support”. She believes that this group of people is not fit to reproduce. Her vivid description of one particular group is where she uses rhetorical devices she states that this group of people lowers the standards of civilization and make for race deterioration. Her description of this group states that nothing good will come from them. The speaker addresses arguments and counterarguments when she states that the church does not see fit for women to meet with and mix with the members of the opposite sex for equality because it would lower their standards of morality but it is okay for women to meet with the same members of the opposite sex when they went to church. This shows a double standard in decision making for women. Sanger’s arguments are effective because...
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...The speech I chose to read instead of hear was “The morality of birth control” by Margaret Sanger (1921). I chose this speech because I have worked in the healthcare field for over 10 years now, this subject truly catches my attention. Its also the reason why for my final project I have chosen to speak about abortion and pro choice debates. After reading the article I picked up on bias’ right of the bat. The fact that women have been viewed as immoral for wanting to control the size of their families or to act as responsible adults. Margaret talks about how many different groups were invited to the conference that was held and everyone acted with dignity except one group. This group was the religious “church” going individuals. This group views birth control as a “sin” so to speak and think it’s against gods will. I can vouch for this personally. I recently took a new job almost three months ago with a very well known catholic organization. We have amazing benefits except they will not cover ANY form of contraception or fertility treatment. This means I have to pay out of pocket for my prescriptions of birth control. A choice I have chosen as a single/divorced mother of three. I don’t want to have any more children, but in their eyes I am being immoral. To me some of the fallacies or misconceptions with this issue that they are basically stating that religion and worship make a person moral. How can that be when there have been so many accusations and cases of catholic priests...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of “The Morality of Birth Control” In the article “The Morality of Birth Control”, Margaret Sanger argued that birth control is a moral solution to unwanted pregnancies and everyone should be informed about it (559). She originally published these claims as a well-known speech. She had hoped to motivate people with positions of power to join her movement promoting birth control. This article was one of the first steps Sanger took to change society’s view about birth control. Although “The Morality of Birth Control” contains a lot of Margaret Sanger’s personal opinions, I agree with her claim and feel as though she made a persuasive argument. At the time that this speech was given, there was a lot of controversy over...
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...A Nation with Birth Control Throughout the writer’s younger years, her mother gave birth to eleven children and lost seven more before she died at forty-nine. These instances did not give the writer a good outlook on large families. In fact, in her book Women and the New Race, she writes, “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” This shows that she did not approve of large families and later she found a way to prevent them. Margaret Sanger spent her whole life trying to find a cure for unwanted children. Her whole purpose in life was to promote birth control. Sanger founded Planned Parenthood on October 16, 1916 and gave women the option to be in control of their bodies. Margaret Sanger’s speech, “The Morality of Birth Control” was given at the Park Theater in New York on November 18, 1921 and pleaded with women to use birth...
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..."The Morality of Birth Control" by Margaret Sanger, (1921) Margaret Sanger uses several method's within her speech, "The Morality of Birth Control", to convey her strong views on the topic. She uses a strong sense of bias, fallacies, and colorful rhetoric devices in her speech to not only get the attention of the audiences, but to relay a sense of urgency for the actions that need to be taken. One bias that Sanger uses is toward the idea of motherhood without birth control being a condition of ignorance and chance. This may perhaps be the case for a small number of women, but it is not accurate to categorize all women who do not use or believe in birth control in this manner. Margaret Sanger uses vivid examples of fallacies and rhetorical devices in her speech. She uses the words "religious scruples" to drive home the basic need for power and morality. When Sanger refers to the opposition to birth control she refers to them as "this group is diseased, feeble-minded, and is of the pauper element dependent entirely upon the normal and fit members of society for their support." Her vivid imagery evokes not only emotion, but the need for aggressive action. One way that the speaker addressers arguments and counterarguments is when she brings about the point of the two sexes "mixing together”. Sanger brings about the point that opponent to birth control are the same people that were opposed to women working outside the home and mixing with the opposite sex. Margaret Sanger...
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...promiscuous but women did not. This double standard revolved around the risk of pregnancy for women that men obviously did not have concern for. One of the main events that triggered the revolution that changed women's sexual freedom was an oral contraceptive, also known as "the pill". This new effective form of birth control changed many major aspects of society including women's freedom, social morality, and informed consent on prescription medications. Women's Freedom The birth control pill was developed in the 1950's but the FDA approved it to be released to the public in 1960. (1) The release of the pill was "welcomed by [the] generation" of young women because of the freedom it gave them; they could do whatever they pleased without the high risk of pregnancy. (2) The freedom to control contraception allowed women freedom of dependence on men and to pursue careers because they could control when they had children. After being distributed for two years, 1.2 million women took the pill every day. (3) Before the it was available, men had a significant advantage over women in the workforce because women had the risk of becoming pregnant. Also, women did not have control over when or how often they became pregnant. So many women used the pill to pursue a career and achieve new goals. This freedom leveled the playing field between men and women in the business world. It also changed the way people thought about sex and they realized that "the value of. . . intimacy and bonding...
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...development or decrease, spatial dispersion, structure, and attributes (Weeks, 2015). Demography is a power on the planet that impacts change in human prosperity of which the world has seen in the course of the last couple of hundred years. Demographic transition theory is from the early 20th century and is a collection of demographic data on a much larger scale. It is quantitative studies across different societies based on fertility, morality, and resultant growth rates. The demographic transition theory was developed in an attempt to make sense of all of this international data. From the demographic transition theory, we observe very different modern demographic regimes from Western Europe, central Europe and the developing world. This paper abridges key patterns in populace size, fertility and mortality among these transitions and the causes and consequences of population change. There are three fundamental stages of demographic change. The first stage is of high growth potential. In this stage, there is high fertility and high morality and the population is stable. Additionally in the first stage, an economy is primitive and in reverse. Agriculture is the principle occupation, which gives low level of pay to individuals. The way of life is exceptionally poor and individuals don't even have fundamental civilities of life. There is mass-destitution, training opportunities are restricted, individuals are intolerant, across the board superstitions win, family arranging does...
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...Birth control is an issue that has puzzled our morality for years. When younger adults, teenagers begin to use it, it becomes an even larger controversy. Through this our human nature must comprehend the problem, act upon it, and therefore take a stand that might occasionally conflict with our personal beliefs. Yet, birth control continues to strive during a period where people of the world neglect to analyze their own actions and accepting the fact that personal dealings seem to reflect their true inner beliefs. Teenagers are the target groups that focus on birth control the most. With all the risk factors in the world today I think birth control should not be given to teenager because of promiscuousness, non-communication and un-healthiness. Although I’m against teen birth control, other has their reasons for it, such as, pregnancy, education, and abortion. Allowing teen’s access to birth control may help decrease the amount of teen pregnancies taking place each year. There are now instances of thirteen and fourteen year old girls having babies, teens that are completely unprepared to give birth and raise a child. Another reason is that it gives teens the choice to continue education. When a teenager becomes a mother or pregnant, its hard to finish school which causes some to drop out. Last reason someone might be for teen birth control is to prevent abortions. Access to birth control can help reduce the number of teen abortions that take place each year. Although statistics...
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...Birth control is an issue that has puzzled our morality for years. When younger adults, teenagers begin to use it, it becomes an even larger controversy. Through this our human nature must comprehend the problem, act upon it, and therefore take a stand that might occasionally conflict with our personal beliefs. Yet, birth control continues to strive during a period where people of the world neglect to analyze their own actions and accepting the fact that personal dealings seem to reflect their true inner beliefs. Teenagers are the target groups that focus on birth control the most. With all the risk factors in the world today I think birth control should not be given to teenager because of promiscuousness, non-communication and un-healthiness. Although I’m against teen birth control, other has their reasons for it, such as, pregnancy, education, and abortion. Allowing teen’s access to birth control may help decrease the amount of teen pregnancies taking place each year. There are now instances of thirteen and fourteen year old girls having babies, teens that are completely unprepared to give birth and raise a child. Another reason is that it gives teens the choice to continue education. When a teenager becomes a mother or pregnant, its hard to finish school which causes some to drop out. Last reason someone might be for teen birth control is to prevent abortions. Access to birth control can help reduce the number of teen abortions that take place each year. Although statistics...
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...Contemporary Moral Problems Steven DeCecco Utilitarianism is an ethical theory which explains that the morality of an act is dependent on the amount of utility that an action can produce. It states that one should act so as to maximize the amount of happiness in the world. The most clear criticism I believe against the Utilitarian principle is that it only looks on the consequences that an action can inflict to the majority of the people. By this, we can gather that Utilitarianism lacks concern on the part of the minority. Plus, it’s not always the case that what is good for the majority is the right thing to do. For example, while Kant argues that we should never tell a lie no matter what the consequences, utilitarian’s would first calculate the positive and negative effects from either telling the truth or telling a lie. But, if telling a lie will maximize more happiness or pleasure for the number of people involved, then telling a lie is the morally right thing to do. Another objection I find interesting is Robert Nozick’s experience machine. Nozick’s example of the experience machine is meant to be a counter-example to hedonism. He asks, if it were possible to put you in a virtual reality machine, where you could live out the rest of your life in a practical, computer-generated reality, would you do so? My answer would be no and I think most people would pick the same. Although certainly they would be much happier in the machine, a life in the machine just wouldn’t be...
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...and Argumentation “The Morality of Birth Control” by Margaret Sanger (1921) Write a 350- to 500-word response to the following questions: * What are some examples of bias, fallacies, and specific rhetorical devices in the speech you selected? * How did the speaker address arguments and counterarguments? * Were the speaker’s arguments effective? Explain your answer. First off, the speaker sent out letters to those she knew would agree with her and, also, to those who opposed her. She wanted to get together a group of people, on both sides of the fence, and have a discussion within the town about the topic of birth control. She goes on to talk about how every advance that women have made, has been met with opposition. She talks about when women fought for higher education, it was said that they would become immoral and would lose their place in the sanctity of the home. The one place that she says where men and women were on equal ground, was in the church. Their stance was that every man and every woman should be given the opportunity of Birth Control. They believed that a woman should have the right over her own body, whether she shall be a mother or not. Their first step was to get the backing of the medical profession so that their laws may be changed. They wanted motherhood to be a choice, rather than one of chance. They agree that as a society, we must control contraception. Finally, this group believes that birth control is a more civilized method...
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...Margaret Sanger, the founder of the first birth control clinic in the United States, was arrested in 1916. At this time, there was a law prohibiting the distribution of information regarding contraception. Unfortunately, with the new “sexual freedoms” that the Roaring Twenties exhibited for women, thousands of women were baring more children than they wanted, more frequently than they wanted. With limited to no access to women’s health clinics, childbirth left many women too ill and weak to work. Over 250,000 women wrote to Sanger seeking information and advice regarding how to prevent more unwanted pregnancies. With the opening of the first birth control clinic in 1916, and her tireless efforts to support other clinics across the country, Margaret Sanger began a movement advocating for women’s health rights. In the American Promise textbook, the authors explain how Sigmund Freud, an every-day household name, was promoting his ideas that, as sexual beings, we should be able to “seek pleasure without guilt.” These Freudian concepts led to Americans exploring several ways of experiencing pleasure. Many of these newfound “pleasures” led to the prohibition of alcohol, challenged gender boundaries, and the expansion of mass media and communications. This roaring outrage of pleasure in the 1920s became known as the “roaring twenties.” While flappers were known for challenging the traditional gender boundaries through their sexual freedom, there were thousands of women who suffered...
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...Danitza Cavero Writing 1100-02 Lorraine Coco 03/04/2015 Should abortion be looked down upon? A question of abortion always raises debate among communities in the United States and worldwide, between prochoice activists and religious cults. Is it acceptable to commit and abortion if a woman doesn’t want to give birth? And is it considered murder to abort a fetus or should the pregnant woman have the choice of abortion? Well that is a rather complex question and there is no direct answer because different people have different views and different feelings about abortion. Is choosing abortion a red line and a sin that is never meant to be crossed according to religious beliefs and faiths? Again there are many religions and some may agree with abortion and others may not. Abortion is a controversial issue affecting our society. Many people feel that abortion is evil because it is killing an unborn child. On the other hand, others believe that it is a woman’s constitutional right to choose especially in certain situations such as incest, rape, or health issues threatening the mother’s life. Killing an innocent child is unethical especially the way procedures are done. A pregnant woman who is pregnant due to consensual sex. Then by all means we could completely disagree with abortion. Pregnancy, from rape however, is a completely different situation. While certainly a woman has a choice in what to do with her body. It is not only in her own body she affecting. It is her living...
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...about sex. They note that although sex, age, and race are common markers of how parents communicate with their children, religious affiliation might also contribute to the latter. The article continues to explain and note several facts regarding sex and misinformation. Communication on the subject of sex is important for several reasons. Proper communication may lead to less unplanned pregnancies and the decrease of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. The article asks the following questions regarding sex: “Does religion influence the frequency of and with which parents communicate about sexual topics? When religious parents say they talk to their kids about sex or birth control, do they primarily communicate values? Do more devoutly religious parents communicate less frequently about birth control?” The author’s aim is to see if there is any significance in religion and patterns of parent–child communication about sex. The author did not directly survey people. Rather he combined information from two major data sources: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and National Study of Youth and Religion. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health(NLSTAHL) surveyed adolescents whom were in the range of 7th to 12th grades in school in 80 different high schools and middle schools of different communities. The schools’ size ranged from 100 students to 3000 students. The schools varied in social locations including rural, suburban, and urban. The students...
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