Approach towards birth control: Indian women in the early twentieth century

Indian Economic and Social History Review

Volumn 35, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 35-50

  Manna, Mausumi ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 25144481547     PISSN: 00194646     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/001946469803500103     Document Type: Article

References (73)

1. In 1878 Annie Besant's Law of Population was published in England.
2. When Besant faced trial in England for reprinting Charles Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy, Indian newspapers gave good coverage tu the case.
3. Nripendra Kumar Basu reports that a Bombay merchant anticipated a good market for the book and imported copies of Law of Population. He apparently made a good profit. See Basu's Janmo Sason, Fourth edition, Calcutta, 1350 B.S., p. 243.
4. Periodicals by women or for women like Vamabodhini Masik Patrika O Samalocana, Antahpur, Mahila and others in the nineteenth century discussed women's health and pregnancy care. See Meredith Borthwick's The Changing Role of Women in Bengal, 1849-1905, Princeton, 1984, chapter 5, pp. 151-85. It is not necessary that the magazines dealing with pregnancy care also talked of birth control.
5. For example, the women's magazine Bangalakshmi upheld the image of traditional motherhood but regularly published articles on reproductive health. Kamala Sen, a regular contributor in Bangalakshmi, discussed pregnancy care in the form of a letter from a mother to a daughter.
6. According to Nripendra Kumar Vasu, the first Bengali book on birth control methods was written by Nagendra Mukhopadhya, named Kanyader Pratikar. First published in 1914, 20,000 copies of the book were eventually sold.
7. The first article in Bengali on birth control was written by Nripendra Kumar, which was published in the periodical Sastha Samachar, in 1330 B.S., (1927) where, subsequently, many other articles by him came out.
8. See Vasu's Janmo Sason, preface to the fourth edition.
9. Race degeneration here means the reduction of population of the race. The idea of degeneration here involves the notion that prosperity of a race depends on the multiplication of its number as well as the quality of education and culture.
10. Jawaharlal Nehru, cited in the Foreword of S. Chandrasekhar's book, Population and Planned Parenthood in India, London, 1955.
11. The First Five Year Plan - A Draft Outline, 1951, pp. 16-17.
12. Professor Phadke established the Bombay Birth Control League in 1923. The Neo-Malthusian League in Madras was started in 1928 by Sri V. Rameshan, a Madras High Court judge. In 1930 Dr Sailendranath Singh founded the Neo-Malthusian Society of Bengal.
13. Sarala Devi Choudhurani, the founder secretary of the Bharat Stree Mahamandal took a leadership in women's education and other welfare activities. But she did not take such an active role with respect to the birth control movement. Similarly Indira Devi Choudhurani has written abundantly with regard to women's health and education. The AIWC Calcutta conference (1933) took a resolution with regard to both birth control and abduction of girls and women. Indira Devi wrote enthusiastically about the latter but did not show that kind of interest with regard to the former.
14. See Gosta Carlsson, 'The Decline of Fertility, Innovation or Adjustment Process', Population Studies, 20(2), 1966, pp. 149-74.
15. For instance, the babus of Calcutta who regularly frequented brothels and also indulged in other illicit sexual relations mentioned herbs and seeds supposedly used for abortions in their shopping list every month. See Avanti Kumar Sanyal, Baboo, Pratikshan Publication Pvt. Ltd, Calcutta, 1987, pp. 48-49.
16. Although the 'Age of Consent' debate started much earlier, around 1891, marriage and motherhood for most girls occurred within adolescence.
17. Anindita Devi, 'Janmo-Niyantran', Jayasree, Vaishaka, 1341 B.S., p. 85.
18. One of the earliest attempts to explain the fertility differences between the traditional and modern societies is the theory of demographic transition by W. Thompson, Notestein and others. Expansion of female education as well as increase in labour force participation by women are believed to be the result of the process of modernisation. A modern microeconomic theory of fertility demand, initiated by H. Leibenstein and later formalised and developed by G. Becker, J. Mincer, T.W. Schultz, R. Easterlin and others of the Chicago school, postulates a negative relationship between female education, female labour force participation, and fertility demand. For a summary reading on this subject refer to T.W. Schultz (ed.). Food for the World, Chicago, 1945,
19. and Economies of the Family, Marriage and Children, Chicago, 1974;
20. and Gary Becker, A Treatise on Family, Chicago, 1981;
21. John C. Caldwell, Theories of Fertility Decline, New York 1982;
22. R.A. Easterlin and E.M. Crimmins, The Fertility Revolution, Chicago, 1985.
23. See Susan Cochrane, Education and Fertility: What Do We Really Know?, Baltimore, 1979;
24. and H.J. Graff, 'Literacy, Education and Fertility: Past and Present, A Critical Review', Population and Development Review, 5(2), pp. 105-40.
25. See Aparna Basu and Bharati Roy, Women's Struggle: History of the All India Women's Conference, 1927-1990, New Delhi, 1990, p. 81,
26. and also Margaret Cousins' observation, 'In other direction during these years the Conference fully discussed birth control and ranked in its favour when directed by medical clinics', in Margaret Cousins (ed.), Indian Womanhood Today, Allahabad, 1941, p. 44
27. Margaret E. Cousins, 'Impressions of Women's Conference in Calcutta', Stree Dharma, February 1934, p. 158.
28. Anindita Devi's 'Janmo-Niyantran', pp. 85-93.
29. Margaret Sanger, An Autobiography, New York (1938), 1970, pp. 480-81.
30. How Martyn was the Director of the Birth Control Information Centre in London. She visited India before Sanger, during early 1935.
31. See Lant H. Pritchet, 'Desired Fertility and the Impact of Population Policies', Population and Development Review, March 1984, pp. 1-54.
32. Jyotirmoyee Devi, 'Janmo-Sasaon Alocona', Jayasree, Paush, 1339 B.S., p. 754-58,
33. and 'Ma-Baap O Santan', Jayasree, Vaisakh, 1342 B.S., pp. 43-45.
34. Raibahadur M.C. Raja accused that while the advertisement and sale of birth control devices were forbidden in the European countries including England, they were being tolerated in India, Journal of Indian Medical Association (henceforth JIMA), September 1933, p. 75. The Chaitra issue of the periodical Prabasi in 1341 B.S. protested against the indiscriminate sale and advertisement of birth control devices in India, p. 897. The Paush 1336 issue of Vangabani in an editorial comment cautioned against the sale of this dangerous weapon in India. The above are illustrative examples of the anxiety of a section of Indians over the spread of birth control in India. Their anxiety proves that m.b.c.m. were gradually becoming popular.
35. In fact, as modern demographers find, India's population was indeed increasing marginally since 1900, with a positive growth rate since 1920 (the year described as the year of Great Divide in India's demographic history). See, among others, Tim Dyson, India's Historical Demography: Studies in Famine, Disease, and Society, London, 1989;
36. and N. Krishnaji, Population Pressure, 1891-1981: Regional Variations and Consequences, R.C. Dutt Memorial Lecture, Calcutta, 1996.
37. Medical News and Notes, JIMA, August 1933, p. 501.
38. The Statesman, 7 December 1935.
39. For reporting on the first Indian Population Conference, see JIMA, January 1936, p. 218,
40. and Prabasi, Phalgun, 1342 B.S., p. 741.
41. Radhakamal was also very much concerned about the adverse effect of population growth on environment. See Radhakamal Mukhopadhya, 'Lokbridhi O Prakitik Biparjoi', Prabasi, Aswin, 1342 B.S., pp. 762-64.
42. JIMA, March 1936, p.
43. Unpublished correspondence between Rabindranath Tagore and Sanger preserved at the Rabindra Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan.
44. See Dr C.B. Mamoria, Population and Family Planning in India, chapter 5, India's Public Opinion and Population Control, Allahabad, 1959, p. 76.
45. Basu's Janmo-Sason also mentions this speech, p. 260.
46. We may mention two articles in this connection: Kesh Das, 'Bangalee Hindu Dhangsonmukh', Prabasi, Aswin, 1342 B.S., pp. 774-78;
47. Kalicharan Mitra, 'Bharat ki Dhangser Pathe?', Bichitra, Jaishtha, 1338 B.S., pp. 768-72;
48. and a report in Prabasi, Agrahayan, 1338 B.S., p. 271, which uses the census data between 1911-1931 to argue that Bengali Muslims were increasing their race faster than Bengali Hindus.
49. Charles Richet was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1913.
50. The Modern Review, June 1934, p. 456;
51. and the Prabasi, Ashadh, 1341 B.S., p. 447.
52. Satyendranath Vasu, 'Nari Pragati', Vangalakshmi, Ashadh, 1337 B.S., p. 176.
53. Surendranath Bhattacharya, 'Santan Nirodh Bangalir Kartavya Kina?', Jayasree, Ashadh, 1342 B.S., pp. 233-36.
54. See M. K. Gandhi, Self Restraint vs Self Indulgence, Ahmedabad, 1947.
55. A number of essays from these book are re-compiled (often under a different heading) in Anand T. Hingorani (ed.) Birth Control, Bombay, 1949,
56. and R.K. Prabhu (ed.) Birth Control: The Right Way and the Wrong Way, Ahmedabad, 1959.
57. For instance, the Vamabodhini Masik Patrika O Samalocana discusses the need to maintain restraint by married couples to protect the health of both men and women. See Jaishtha, 1327 B.S., pp. 25-27, and Aswin, 1328 U.S., p. 206.
58. See the essay 'Mrs Sanger and Birth Control', in M.K. Gandhi's Self Restrain vs Self Indulgence, p. 201-8,
59. and also 'Three Birth Control Enthusiasts', from Birth Control: The Right Way and Wrong Way, p. 51-58.
60. Lajpat Rai, 'Women's Problems', Stree Dharma, February 1928, Visva-Bharati Central Library, Santiniketan, page numbers mutilated.
61. Torab Ali, 'Janmo Sason O Bangalee Musalman', Masik Muhammadi, Chaitra, 1334 B.S., p. 372-74.
62. Margaret Noble, 'The Relation Between Famine and Population',Selected Essays of Sister Nibedita, Second Indian Edition, Madras, 1927, pp. 95-122.
63. Report of the National Council of Women in India, Sixth Biennial Report, 1936-37.
64. See the section on Maternal Mortality, pp. 50-53. Also, articles in several issues in the JIMA written by medical professionals from both sexes focused on the relation between women's health and Parity.
65. Report of the AIWC, Trivandrum Session. 1935-36, AIWC, New Delhi, p. 34.
66. Mrs A. Mathews, 'Birth Control and Child Mortality', Stree Dharma, October 1933, pp. 613-15. Anindita Devi's and Jyotirmoyee Devi's articles also mention this aspect.
67. Renuka Roy, 'Impressions of the Tenth Session of the All India Women's Conference', Modern Review, February 1936, pp. 209-12.
68. Kamala Devi Chattopadhaya et al. (ed's), The Awakening of Indian Women, Madras, 1939, p. 33.
69. Sudhamoyee Devi, 'Janmo-Sason', Jayasree, Agrahayan, 1339 B.S., pp. 667-71.
70. Margaret Sanger, Extract from the 'New Motherhood', Stree Dharma, March 1926, p. 71.
71. Rukmini Arundale, 'Women's Duty', Stree Dharma, March 1926, p. 103-4.
72. Swami Jagadiswarananda, 'Ideals of Indian Motherhood', Stree Dharma, August 1933, pp. 481-85,
73. and Swami Jagadiswarananda, Stree Dharma, September 1933, pp. 542-45.