"Constance M. Chen's "The Sex Side of Life": Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education brings to light the life and achievements of an extraordinary woman. With the publication of this biography, Dennett will emerge from the footnotes of history to take her place with Margaret Sanger, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as one of the most influential women in this country's history. A suffragette, a leading figure of the American Arts and Crafts movement, a prominent peace activist, and a crusader for the right to obtain and distribute information about contraception, Mary Ware Dennett was also author of the sex-education pamphlet "The Sex Side of Life: An Explanation for Young People." Though the pamphlet - written in 1915 for Dennett's adolescent sons - ultimately became a respected, widely-read publication, public officials judged it obscene and brought Dennett to trial in a landmark censorship case. During her remarkable career, Dennett battled both reluctant congressmen and others who should have been her allies - including Margaret Sanger, who fought Dennett's attempts to make birth control information accessible to all, rich and poor, female and male."--Publisher information.
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