ABSTRACT

This article explores discussions of family planning and the contraceptive pill in the popular Irish women’s magazine Woman’s Way between 1963 and 1973. Contraception was criminalised in Ireland in 1935 and literature relating to birth control was banned under the 1929 Censorship of Publications Act. The contraceptive pill was marketed as a cycle regulator from 1963 until legalization in 1979. This article outlines how women accessed the contraceptive pill, the geographical and class inequalities around this access and how Woman’s Way was an important vehicle for debates around the pill. The article assesses what discussions of the contraceptive pill can tell us about marriage dynamics, the role of sympathetic doctors, the power of the Catholic Church. Ultimately, it illustrates how the magazine was an important source of information on family planning for Irish women and how it also enabled women to air their views on the issue.

摘要

本文探讨了1963 年至 1973 年爱尔兰流行妇女杂志《女人之道》中关于计划生育和避孕药的讨论。爱尔兰于 1935 年将避孕定为刑事犯罪，1929 年出版的《出版审查法》禁止了与节育相关的文学作品。避孕药从 1963 年开始作为周期调节剂销售，直到 1979 年合法化。本文概述了女性如何获取避孕药、围绕这种获取的地域和阶级不平等以及女性的方式是围绕避孕药进行辩论的重要工具。这篇文章评估了避孕药的讨论可以告诉我们婚姻动态、富有同情心的医生的作用、天主教会的力量。最后，它说明了该杂志如何成为爱尔兰妇女有关计划生育的重要信息来源，以及它如何使妇女能够就该问题发表意见。