History of sexuality
SAP 1
Both sources give an overview of infanticide in Ireland. According to Farrell on the infanticide of the ordinary, the kind of woman most likely to commit infanticide was unmarried, the mid to late twenties, educated, Roman Catholic, poor class or had been a servant. However, Farrell differs takes a different perspective on the other article. Cases used in that article incline towards the fact that lower-class women did not exclusively commit infanticide and concealment of birth.
In the nineteenth century Ireland, infanticide was as often as possible connected to illegitimacy. In 1864, 3.8 per cent of births were illegitimate compared to 2.3 per cent in 1870s. The figured remained below 3 per cent throughout the nineteenth century. The 1707 Act ‘to prevent the destroying and mothering of Bastard Children’ was supplanted in 1803. However, the new law kept up the relationship with illegitimacy. If a woman was cleared of killing her illegitimate child and found guilty of concealment of birth, she was punished with a maximum imprisonment of two years with hard labour.
Britain ascribed infanticide to illegitimacy during the nineteenth century. The Royal Commission was informed that most instances of child murder were indeed done to get away from the disgrace and shame. Child murder outside Britain and Ireland were additionally connected with illegitimate births, and in certain areas legislation kept on relating just to unmarried moms and illegitimate babies. History specialists elsewhere affirmed that the expected connection among child murder and illegitimacy during this period is borne out by the enduring proof. The dead child was considered illegitimate in 83 per cent of situations where the identity of one of the two guardians was known. Statistically, the average age for women found with infanticide or concealment was twenty-six years. The Irish proof reflects patterns watched somewhere else in Europe which demonstrated that suspects were rarely young and were, on average twenty-seven years old. Suspects in South-West Germany was twenty-five while in Cantal in France was 27.6 years. Be that as it may, in numerous examples, the lady blamed for child murder, instead of the dead infant, was depicted as the victim of the story. The sources that recorded the religion of the ladies caught for child murder or concealing of birth uncover that more than 82 per cent were Roman Catholic. On average 76 per cent of the population in Ireland was Catholic. Farrell thinks that it is possible that Protestant ladies were underrepresented in the example since they utilized different methods for managing an undesirable pregnancy.
The proof also suggests that a large portion of the ladies associated with the wrongdoing were in reality from the less wealthy classes, in Ireland and somewhere else. It was also observed that a high percentage of infanticide and concealment of birth cases were women who worked as servants. Farrell perceives social status as a factor for pregnancy outside marriage. Almost certainly, the obligations and errands expected of lower-class ladies implied that they usually experienced men in an unsupervised domain. A poor woman had fewer options for dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. A guarantee of marriage may have been the first motivation to begin the sexual relationship. Yet, an effective breach of marriage case required money related assets and verification that the male litigant had promised marriage. An expert abortion similarly needed money. So since servant was regularly unmarried, pregnancy would demonstrate that she engaged in a sexual relationship. In some instances, guardians additionally would not permit pregnant girls to come back to the family home. The infanticide suspects, however, were not illiterate. The free primary school system was set in Ireland in 1831. This translated to 70.1 per cent of the population that could read and also write.
On the other hand, Farrell, on the second source take a different stand whose illustration points towards the crime not being committed by lower-class women. This different approach is in regards to a body of an infant that was found in a lady’s purse suggesting that she was not a lower-class woman. The two-week-old baby was dressed in a white robe and Berlin wool coat which was not for the underprivileged. Again the upper and middle-class women had options to deal with pregnancies due to resources. A woman with financial resources would have the capacity to secure a marriage, hire assistants to help with the infanticide or concealing the child. Above all, she would most likely not be a suspect in case the body of the child was found.
Investigation reports show various means that the women used. These included suffocation, drowning, strangulation, burning, exposure, poisoning, beating and decapitation. Others failed to take care of the child during childbirth resulting starvation Majority of the cases examined by Farrell in the first article being addressed. Asphyxia was the leading cause of death. Bleeding because of the umbilical cord being left loosened was likewise a common reason for death. The sex of the youngster didn’t seem to impact the probability of child murder, and the majority of the baby casualties were newborns.
SAP 2
In the U.S., the constitution is against the right to an abortion. The right is against any state law or policy, and it protects the fetus from an abortion that is prompted by less compelling reasons. Reagan, however, opposes this because there is nothing in history that shows what influenced the court to make such a judgment. The court fashions a law with no reason for its action or sufficient substance to override state abortion statutes. This means that within the 50 states, the people and legislatures cannot weigh the importance of the growth of the fetus against the impact on the mother. In this light, Reagan feels that this is an extravagant exercise of power by the court. Texas perceives that life begins at conception. However, those in the relatively affected disciplines such as medicine, philosophy, and theology have concluded the matter. Therefore, the State should regulate abortion in regards to the mother’s health.
Controversy kicks in when there is no danger to the life of the mother. The pregnancy is unwanted for several reasons such as convenience, family planning, economics, dislike of children, embarrassment due to illegitimacy and so on. In the 1960s and 70s, women in California resulted in creating an organization that arranged for women to travel to Mexico for abortions. Reagan organized for abortion rights. Patricia Maginnis, on the other hand, provided names of health practitioners that performed abortions in Mexico and Japan. An abortion referral service sprouted in the U.S. and later led to a new organization being founded, Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (ARAL). The idea was to reduce unsafe abortions by sending women to sage physicians. Abortion being a crime yielded the rise of skilled and unskilled practitioners. There was growth of awareness of the abortion law due to ARAL. This led to the creation of the National Association for Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) by activists across the country. ARAL and the Society for Humane Abortion (S.H.A.) perceived as women’s rights, and good healthcare is equally important. The goal for the two organizations was normalizing abortions by making it like any other medical procedure. This prompted the changing of abortion Law in the U.S.
In Ireland, the abortion referendum of 1983 enforced the right to life of a fetus, and this prompted women to travel to England for an abortion. The Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group (IWASG), made the arrangements for the journey. The support group was composed of women of Irish origin based in London. Previously, the middle class and professional women pursued abortion as opposed to the current working-class and poor women. In Ireland and the South, it is not only illegal to abort but also illegal to provide information supporting abortions. Therefore, the IWASG used a different approach to the S.H.A. The service included running a phone line to Ireland only one night a week. The IWASG book terminations, negotiate financial deals and book appointments with the clinics. The abortion process required a lot of cash due to the expensive trip to London, accommodation due to the requirement by law in England to spend the night before the operation. The IWASG activists offered their homes and looked after children when the mother is at the clinic. Therefore, the IWASG required a lot of time energy and emotions as opposed to S.H.A.
IWASG used to deal with emergencies such as women in difficulty in coping or the women who had no money. This changed with the abortion referendum in 1983. Due to the illegality of IWASG, it has no access to media and money. The organization is unfunded. They, therefore, rely on a fundraiser, walks, charities and so on.
The general criteria for helping women access abortion for the groups is the same. The two provided information for access to the same abortion service. However, the two groups can be distinguished by the fact that IWASG is located outside the country due to its illegal existence within the State. S.H.A. worked to fight for the rights of the women and provide information and access to abortion services in Mexico
Jane, on the other hand, was formed in Chicago in 1965. Their initial strategy was to help women get abortions by connecting them with doctors breaking the law. They distinguish themselves from the IWASG and S.H.A. due to their new approach of training women perform abortions themselves. A few months after the associates of Jane was arrested the Supreme Court legalized abortion and this led to the dismantling of Jane. IWASG is very similar to S.H.A. despite the difference in the geographical region. Therefore, there is nothing unique in regards to the groups being Irish and American. The difference in how they operate is because not only was abortion illegal in Ireland, but information leading to an abortion was illegal.
SAP3
Mna na h-Eireann(women of Ireland) is a group whose goal is to reestablishing beating in schools, abolishing contraception centres and so on. Meena Cribbins heads this society. Her perspectives are so outrageous that liberals will, in general excuse them as absurd. Yet, their source is a profound rigidity which educates numerous sexual mentalities in Ireland. Some portion of the stun being communicated by these gatherings is that the Irish government is instating common laws which are most certainly not necessarily Catholic.
Cribbins considers herself as a conservative. She rarely went out, but the culture is under attack rattled her, and she had to go out and point out what was happening. Her inspiration is drawn from making a haven for her children. She did not want the world to influence the Irish people. Cribbins aimed at maintaining the traditional Irish family life. A traditional Irish family entails the man working and the woman bringing up children and the family upholding Catholic values. The attack on the family was pioneered by money and family planning. Besides that, Ireland got rid of the language and beating in school. According to Cribbins, the language is a fundamental part of a country and beating in schools helps bring up a generation of people who know control. Today’s lifestyle in Ireland is with better housing, better living conditions but opt for smaller families which narrows down to selfish reasons. If a couple decides that they need smaller families instead, there are safer natural ways of doing that.
Having sex and getting pregnant outside marriage means that the women have lost their faith. Therefore this waters down the idea of young people wanting to have sex and using contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The fact that teenagers are having sex does not mean it is a natural evolution, and it’s from abroad. This does not mean that there were no illegitimate children back in the day. The girl was helped to find her way back. While one may perceive using a pill and using a calendar the same, Cribbin says that using the pill does something to the body that is against nature and thinks that a woman’s fertility belongs to a man. When a woman is on a contraceptive, the husband is only using her. According to Cribbin, women’s liberation enslaves women altogether. A woman has to live competing with families with two incomes. And since the movements support contraceptives, it degrades women. The women’s movements are second to family planning clinics in causing damage. Again discussing sex with a psychiatrist or a doctor is being unfaithful to one’s marriage.
On the other hand, the 15,000 spectators at a rally fought for equal Rights Plan and opposed abortion. Most of the spectators were well dressed and white. Many of the spectators had signs reading “E.R.A. is a Turkey,” “God Made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” “I.W.Y. International Witches Year,” and so on. This rally was by a group called the Pro-Family Coalition. The speakers at the rally focused on the traditional role of a woman as a wife and mother. Abortion dressed up in whatever way narrows down to killing a child.
The women’s lib movement seems to just exist for the mere reason of being a radical movement. According to Phyllis Schlafly, this movement does not focus on a woman as a wife or a mother. The movement fights for Equal Rights Amendment which women think it deprives them of being wives and mothers. They promote free sex, fight for Federal day-care centres in place of homes, they encourage abortions which means they don’t fight for families.
The first two cases are similar in the roles of women in society. The woman is the one who takes care of the family and children, and this goes against homosexuality. Cribbins seems to argue the whole thing from a native Irish and Roman Catholic perspective. Therefore, anything that is not considered natural is a sin. On the contrary, the women’s lib movement goes against these guidelines. In essence, most women prefer taking care of the family to working in an office, and therefore most women don’t support the Women’s libbers. Advancement in technology has not prompted more satisfying career than motherhood and marriage for women. A woman being the mother and wife means that men get a “happy home, a faithful wife, and children they adore.”