The Morality of Birth Control by Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger’s “The Morality of Birth Control” was written with the use of bias and different rhetorical devices and fallacies. An example of bias in the work was written to show the stereotypes and bias experienced by women demonstrated by their male counterparts. She wrote, “We know that every advance that woman has made in the last half century has been made with opposition, all of which has been based upon the grounds of immorality. When women fought for higher education, it was said that this would cause her to become immoral and she would lose her place in the sanctity of the home. When women asked for the franchise it was said that this would lower her standard of morals, that it was not fit that she should meet with and mix with the members of the opposite sex, but we notice that there was no objection to her meeting with the same members of the opposite sex when she went to church.” (Sanger, 1921)
Fallacies that I was able to locate in the work were the use of the appeal to tradition fallacy and the appeal to common practice fallacy. In the work, Sanger explained that she had sent letters to different people regarding the issue, including those who felt differently on the issue. To those who opposed the birth control issue, she wrote: “…with the exception of one group whose reply to this important question as demonstrated at the Town Hall last Sunday evening was a disgrace to liberty-loving people, and to all traditions we hold dear in the United States.” (Sanger, 1921) The aforementioned statement is a fallacy. Yes, “liberty-loving people” enjoy their freedom of choice; however, it is illogical to call disgrace to those who oppose it.
The author also used rhetorical explanations combined with the scapegoating fallacy when she wrote about the “third group.” She wrote, “The third are those irresponsible and reckless ones having little regard for the consequence of their acts, or whose religious scruples prevent their exercising control over
Fallacies that I was able to locate in the work were the use of the appeal to tradition fallacy and the appeal to common practice fallacy. In the work, Sanger explained that she had sent letters to different people regarding the issue, including those who felt differently on the issue. To those who opposed the birth control issue, she wrote: “…with the exception of one group whose reply to this important question as demonstrated at the Town Hall last Sunday evening was a disgrace to liberty-loving people, and to all traditions we hold dear in the United States.” (Sanger, 1921) The aforementioned statement is a fallacy. Yes, “liberty-loving people” enjoy their freedom of choice; however, it is illogical to call disgrace to those who oppose it.
The author also used rhetorical explanations combined with the scapegoating fallacy when she wrote about the “third group.” She wrote, “The third are those irresponsible and reckless ones having little regard for the consequence of their acts, or whose religious scruples prevent their exercising control over
References: Sanger, M. (1912). The Morality of Birth Control. Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/margaretsangermoralityofbirthcontrol.htm