Ready for a night in? Join Tabby and Kate as they talk about old methods of contraception and the origins of the culture of control that dictates modern policy on family planning. 

00:20 New male birth control, reversible vasectomy 

01:20 Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and the use of acacia as both a pessaries (vaginal inserts) and abortifacients (inducers of abortion) 

02:10 Family Planning-the effort to control the number of children a family has- predates modern history and for as long as anyone can remember, people have been trying to have sex without pregnancy 

05:25 Control over the reproductive health of families has been dictated by circumstances throughout history. When war, disease, and famine killed people in mass, it was necessary for people to procreate to maintain the population. This demand for more people became imbedded in religious doctrine ultimately leading to the belief that it was immoral to have sex and not have children. Though times have changed, the framework of control has stayed within the power structures that dictate the institutions of modern society.     

07:30 Social reformists argue that people need to have less children to rise above poverty. 

07:45 Malthusianism seeks to reduce the population. Neo-Malthusianism leads to increased interest in contraception.

09:00 The purposeful dismissal of safe abortifacients by doctors in the 18th and 19th century and possible reasons for this decision. 

12:30 Margret Sanger popularized the term birth control and lays groundwork for planned parenthood 

Further reading:

https://books.google.com/books?id=djB3SmeevRIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=1vS85LtlsnIC&pg=PA69&dq=ebers+medical+papyrus+contraception&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGhu_LspTOAhWMNT4KHVIyDogQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=acacia&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=BHRsBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT54&lpg=PT54&dq=bamboo+paper+cervical+block&source=bl&ots=-Tfbe5eB_-&sig=ACfU3U3ttKLXKz25NMeLTjUdp_bUkx-R0w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPnOqB2ZjmAhVBwVkKHZhGCkQQ6AEwAHoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=bamboo%20paper%20cervical%20block&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=8zvd92WUCmEC&pg=PA520&lpg=PA520&dq=co%C3%AFtus+interruptus+%22deprives%22+women&source=bl&ots=2a-jsHDUKE&sig=ACfU3U0LQyf91L4B8eJRwIxDh-4g0cmnWA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiCo7jq4ZnmAhUCmVkKHXzfAL8Q6AEwA3oECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=co%C3%AFtus%20interruptus%20%22deprives%22%20women&f=false

Thanks again for listening as always! Be sure to follow our social media @ANightIn

Intro Song by: Joakim Karud youtube.com/joakimkarud

Additional music provided by the YouTube Audio Library