"The Sex Side of Life": Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education - Softcover

Chen, Constance M.

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9781565841338: "The Sex Side of Life": Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565841336 ISBN 13: 9781565841338

Publisher: The New Press, 1997

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The publication of Constance M. Chen’s "The Sex Side of Life" rescued from obscurity the life and accomplishments of an extraordinary woman: Mary Ware Dennett, suffragette, leader of the American Arts and Crafts movement, peace activist, and crusader for the right to obtain and distribute information about contraception.

In her battle to make birth control information accessible to all, Dennett tangled both with reluctant Congressmen and Margaret Sanger. She was brought to trial in a landmark censorship case surrounding the sex education pamphlet "The Sex Side of Life," which she wrote for her sons.

At a time when family planning information and the Draconian communication laws are at the center of national debates, this biography is as timely and important as ever.

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From the Inside Flap:

Constance M. Chen's "The Sex Side of Life": Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education brings to light the life and achievements of an extraordinary woman. With the publication of this biography, Dennett will emerge from the footnotes of history to take her place with Margaret Sanger, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as one of the most influential women in this country's history.

A suffragette, a leading figure of the American Arts and Crafts movement, a prominent peace activist, and a crusader for the right to obtain and distribute information about contraception, Mary Ware Dennett was also author of the sex-education pamphlet The Sex Side of Life: An Explanation for Young People. Though the pamphlet--written in 1915 for Dennett's adolescent sons--ultimately became a respected, widely-read publication, public officials judged it obscene and brought Dennett to trial in a landmark censorship case.

During her remarkable career, Dennett battled both reluctant congressmen and others who should have been her allies--including Margaret Sanger, who fought Dennett's attempts to make birth control information accessible to all, rich and poor, female and male.

Dennett's life of public service was triggered by her personal experiences, which included an emotional divorce and custody battle. Chen's narrative of Dennett's private life is as gripping as the story of her rise to public prominence.

About the Author:

Constance M. Chen is a graduate of Harvard University and was one of the founding editors of Men’s Journal.

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