Contraception, Donna J. Drucker
Contraception, Donna J. Drucker
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Contraception
A Concise History

Author: Donna J. Drucker

Narrator: Christa Lewis

Unabridged: 4 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 04/07/2020


Synopsis

The beginning of the modern contraceptive era began in 1882, when Dr. Aletta Jacobs opened the first birth control clinic in Amsterdam. The founding of this facility, and the clinical provision of contraception that it enabled, marked the moment when physicians started to take the prevention of pregnancy seriously as a medical concern. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Donna Drucker traces the history of modern contraception, outlining the development, manufacturing, and use of contraceptive methods from the opening of Dr. Jacobs's clinic to the present. Drucker approaches the subject from the perspective of reproductive justice: the right to have a child, the right not to have a child, and the right to parent children safely and healthily.

Drucker describes contraceptive methods available before the pill, including the diaphragm and condom. She looks at the development and dissemination of the pill and its chemical descendants; describes technological developments in such non-hormonal contraceptives as the cervical cap and timing methods; and explains the concept of reproductive justice. Finally, Drucker considers the future of contraception—the adaptations of existing methods, new forms of distribution, and ongoing efforts needed to support contraceptive access worldwide.

About Donna J. Drucker

Donna J. Drucker is assistant director of scholarship and research development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. She is the author of Contraception: A Concise History, The Classification of Sex: Alfred Kinsey and the Organization of Knowledge, and The Machines of Sex Research: Technology and the Politics of Identity, 1945-1985.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Divya on March 25, 2020

Picked this up in the MIT Press bookstore and I learned a lot outside of the history of the birth control pill. Some of the sections were a little slow to get through and I felt there was a lot of setup for the information to come. The sections on male birth control research were the most interesting......more

Goodreads review by Alexandria on January 31, 2023

While the content of the book had a lot of interesting information I found the delivery in the way it was written a bit dull at times. I did really appreciate the focus on reproductive justice towards the end of the book though.......more

Goodreads review by Monica on January 02, 2023

Such a wide-ranging and yet concise history of contraception--primarily in the US, but also Europe, Asia, and Africa. I learned a lot from the history, and I appreciated the chapter on reproductive justice as an important contemporary framework.......more

Goodreads review by Chiara on April 26, 2023

Nice short overview of the history of contraception and reproductive justice!......more