“Dear Mr. Laughlin, It has been suggested by Professor Irving Fisher of Yale that I write you concerning a suggestion which I made to him that sometime during the International Birth Control Conference there be a round-table discussion between the Eugenics group and the friends of Birth Control… “ Margaret Sanger, Sanger Letter (E-1-1), Truman State Special Collections, March 13, 1925. The connection between American first wave feminism and the eugenics movement, at first glance seems unusual. Eugenics is largely branded in the 21st century as being a racist and sexist ideology while early suffragists are lauded for their forward thinking. Despite modern connotations, both movements existed and reached their height within the Progressive
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Middle-class reformers such as feminists felt threatened by the increasing numbers of wage-earning women in cities, going against the gendered social order. “Moral panic” from the perception of these women’s loose sexual morality, further aligned progressives such as eugenicists and feminists. Many claiming this “reorganization of gender relations as evidence of an epidemic of feeblemindedness that only state action could eradicate (through legislation such as …show more content…
It is wrong to simply look at what the eugenics movement and first wave feminism had in common; this perception leaves feminists as white, middle to upper class women with a racial agenda. Instead, it is imperative to look at ways in which feminists departed for eugenic thought: such as their rejection of “defectiveness” on the basis of their sexual habits or lack of stereotypical femininity. Further, feminists are seen as differing widely with eugenicists on issues such as birth control, sexuality and economic independence through education and employment for women. While many women did align themselves with eugenic science, they created a new and distinct eugenic feminism that combined their feminist legal goals and eugenic reasoning. The common theme in this widely differing historiography is to examine how feminism fits into the sphere of eugenic ideals. In this, there seems to be a lack of research into eugenic responses to feminism. Further, while feminism is characterized as eager to enter the eugenics movement and use eugenic science for their own purposes, there seems to be a disproportionate response from eugenicists to enter the first wave feminist movement. This research aims therefore to examine the reciprocally of support seen in the eugenics movement and first wave
Middle-class reformers such as feminists felt threatened by the increasing numbers of wage-earning women in cities, going against the gendered social order. “Moral panic” from the perception of these women’s loose sexual morality, further aligned progressives such as eugenicists and feminists. Many claiming this “reorganization of gender relations as evidence of an epidemic of feeblemindedness that only state action could eradicate (through legislation such as …show more content…
It is wrong to simply look at what the eugenics movement and first wave feminism had in common; this perception leaves feminists as white, middle to upper class women with a racial agenda. Instead, it is imperative to look at ways in which feminists departed for eugenic thought: such as their rejection of “defectiveness” on the basis of their sexual habits or lack of stereotypical femininity. Further, feminists are seen as differing widely with eugenicists on issues such as birth control, sexuality and economic independence through education and employment for women. While many women did align themselves with eugenic science, they created a new and distinct eugenic feminism that combined their feminist legal goals and eugenic reasoning. The common theme in this widely differing historiography is to examine how feminism fits into the sphere of eugenic ideals. In this, there seems to be a lack of research into eugenic responses to feminism. Further, while feminism is characterized as eager to enter the eugenics movement and use eugenic science for their own purposes, there seems to be a disproportionate response from eugenicists to enter the first wave feminist movement. This research aims therefore to examine the reciprocally of support seen in the eugenics movement and first wave