ANNIE BESANT and the Liberal, Radical, Socialist and Feminist Opposition to Birth Control in the 19th century.

Big Annie

Talk Wednesday 28th November 2018 at 7pm at Conway Hall 25 Red Lion Square | London | WC1R 4RL

The story of birth control is usually told as one of almost linear progress against blinkered bigotry. Opposition to contraception may have been blinkered and bigoted, but it was also often liberal, radical, socialist and feminist. Some very surprising figures, including Charles Darwin, Millicent Fawcett and Karl Marx, opposed the early birth controllers. This talk looks at why. It also discusses new material about Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh’s decision to challenge the obscenity law by republishing the birth control pamphlet Fruits of Philosophy. The saga reveals some unexpected historical bedfellows and some new feminist stars.

Annie Besant and the Liberal, Radical, Socialist and Feminist Opposition to Birth Control in the 19th century is just one of six talks in the series Writing Wrongs,  as part of the Heritage Lottery funded project Victorian Blogging.
For information about the entire series and booking:

https://conwayhall.org.uk/events/