Fertility Control: Eugenics, Neo-Malthusianism, and Feminism (2025)

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics

Alison Bashford (ed.), Philippa Levine (ed.)

Published online:

18 September 2012

Published in print:

24 September 2010

Online ISBN:

9780199940417

Print ISBN:

9780195373141

Contents

  • < Previous chapter
  • Next chapter >

The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics

Chapter

Get access

Susanne Klausen,

Susanne Klausen

History, Carleton University, Ottawa

Find on

Oxford Academic

Susanne Klausen is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Ottawa. She writes about reproductive control in twentieth-century South Africa and is author of Race, Maternity, and the Politics of Birth Control in South Africa, 1910–39 (2004). She is at work on a study of criminalized abortion under apartheid. Klausen has published in numerous journals, including the Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, Journal of Southern African Studies, and South African Historical Journal.

Alison Bashford

Alison Bashford

History, University of Sydney

Find on

Oxford Academic

Alison Bashford is Professor of Modern History at the University of Sydney. She has published widely on the modern history of science and medicine, including Purity and Pollution (1998) and Imperial Hygiene (2004), and has coedited Contagion (2001), Isolation (2003), and Medicine at the Border (2006). She is currently completing a history of geopolitics and the world population problem in the twentieth century. In 2009-2010 she was Visiting Chair of Australian Studies, Harvard University, with the Department of the History of Science.

Pages

98–115

  • Published:

    18 September 2012

Cite

Klausen, Susanne, and Alison Bashford, ' Fertility Control: Eugenics, Neo-Malthusianism, and Feminism', in Alison Bashford, and Philippa Levine (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics, Oxford Handbooks (2010; online edn, Oxford Academic, 18 Sept. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195373141.013.0006, accessed 14 May 2025.

Close

Search

Close

Search

Advanced Search

Search Menu

AI Discovery Assistant

Abstract

This article analyzes the preoccupation of eugenics with fertility control—a broad term denoting all methods by which humans seek to induce, prevent, or terminate pregnancy. It also discusses the role of eugenicists in establishing birth control clinics, and to advocate for more controversial technologies of reproductive control such as sterilization and sometimes abortion. It also shows the link between feminist, eugenic, and neo-Malthusian discourses. It begins with the classic definition of eugenics and then indicates that contraceptive information would be offered to married women who are too young, ill, or weak for pregnancy, or who experienced pregnancy too frequently. This article also provides an understanding of the role played by feminism in the social acceptance of technologies of reproductive control. It concludes that eugenic feminists often connected by neo-Malthusian ideas have played a leading role in developing new reproductive technologies.

Keywords: eugenics, fertility control, neo-Malthusian, feminists, pregnancy

Subject

Gender and Sexuality History

Series

Oxford Handbooks

Collection: Oxford Handbooks Online

You do not currently have access to this chapter.

Sign in

Get help with access

Personal account

  • Sign in with email/username & password
  • Get email alerts
  • Save searches
  • Purchase content
  • Activate your purchase/trial code
  • Add your ORCID iD

Sign in Register

Institutional access

    Sign in through your institution

    Sign in through your institution

  1. Sign in with a library card
  2. Sign in with username/password
  3. Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Sign in as administrator

Get help with access

Institutional access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

  1. Click Sign in through your institution.
  2. Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
  3. When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
  4. Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Sign in with a library card

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

  1. Click Sign in through society site.
  2. When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
  3. Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

Personal account

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

  • View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
  • View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

Institutional account management

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Purchase

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

Purchasing information

Metrics

Total Views 1,547

1,019 Pageviews

528 PDF Downloads

Since 10/1/2022

Month: Total Views:
October 2022 40
November 2022 68
December 2022 63
January 2023 65
February 2023 45
March 2023 38
April 2023 63
May 2023 93
June 2023 14
July 2023 21
August 2023 29
September 2023 17
October 2023 50
November 2023 80
December 2023 26
January 2024 38
February 2024 68
March 2024 39
April 2024 44
May 2024 55
June 2024 26
July 2024 26
August 2024 15
September 2024 40
October 2024 130
November 2024 85
December 2024 48
January 2025 31
February 2025 38
March 2025 53
April 2025 44
May 2025 55

Citations

Powered by Dimensions

Altmetrics

×

Email alerts

New books

New articles

Sign up for marketing

New journal issues alert

To set up an email alert, please sign in to your personal account, or register

Sign in

Personal account

  • Sign in with email/username & password
  • Get email alerts
  • Save searches
  • Purchase content
  • Activate your purchase/trial code
  • Add your ORCID iD

Sign in Register

Book activity alert

To set up an email alert, please sign in to your personal account, or register

Sign in

Personal account

  • Sign in with email/username & password
  • Get email alerts
  • Save searches
  • Purchase content
  • Activate your purchase/trial code
  • Add your ORCID iD

Sign in Register

More from Oxford Academic

Arts and Humanities

Gender and Sexuality

History

Social Sciences

Sociology

Books

Journals

Fertility Control: Eugenics, Neo-Malthusianism, and Feminism (2025)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Barbera Armstrong

Last Updated:

Views: 6223

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (79 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Barbera Armstrong

Birthday: 1992-09-12

Address: Suite 993 99852 Daugherty Causeway, Ritchiehaven, VT 49630

Phone: +5026838435397

Job: National Engineer

Hobby: Listening to music, Board games, Photography, Ice skating, LARPing, Kite flying, Rugby

Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.