Marie Stopes

Yes I agree that this is not an undiluted memory of Ushaw Moor but in the absence of posts from others I thought you might be interested in the influence of Marie Stopes in the 1920s and well beyond. Afterall it reminds us of the mentality of the time. Our people of the 1920s - how was it for them?

 Although she was very actively interested in many things: writing poetry, the Women's Freedom League, eugenics and much more, it is her work in the field of birth control and sexuality that is best remembered. She received the accolade "woman of the millennium" from the Guardian newspaper readers in 1999. In the early part of the 20th century, regardless of class, there was much inequality between sexes and also ignorance regarding how men and women should relate to each other. Learning from her own failed relationships Marie Stopes began to use her impressive intellect and available resources to quickly, and courageously, seize her opportunity to help makes women's lives more bearable and less unequal in relation to men.

Birth control facilities would have developed and improved without her; Margaret Sanger, and others, were active in that field, but Marie Stopes got a timely grip on the issue. She did much to explain her point of view: often the atmosphere was electric with expectancy in the few moments prior to her speaking at meetings. She went on to expand facilities to such an extent that the movement that she created is now world wide.

What were some of the likely influences that led Marie Stopes to get involved in family planning and the writing of a book called Married Love? Well there were many:

[1] Women had shown their mettle during WW1 and were beginning to win the argument regarding their rights

[2] D H Lawrence was writing sex driven novels and Marie Stopes'  book [Married Love] had the merit of good timing. During the war women were were mixing more with men and obviously after the war there were more men in circulation in the UK than during it. Ignorance was prevalent in this melting pot.

[3]She was an educated middle class woman setting out women's entitlement and opportunity for married fulfilment

[4] It was a time when some women thought that a kiss could cause pregnancy. There were many distressing family situations largely caused by a total lack of contraception

[5] Once she had married Humphrey Verdon Roe she had access to  the considerable financial backing that would finance her family planning clinics. He had seen the squalid conditions in the Manchester slums and had seen the great burden on women of having large families.

[6] Her mother, an impassioned feminist, and her father, a distinquished scientist, were highly intelligent and articulate; by being around them Marie had a head start in developing the ability to articulate her thoughts and wishes.

I am aware that we are before the 'watershed' so the article is restrained by that!   

WB