Our Lady of Birth Control

Working class nurse. Mother of three. Labor organizer. Margaret Sangerbest known as the pioneer of birth controlwas revolutionary in more ways than one. In Sabrina Joness graphic novel Our Lady of Birth Control the author illustrates the incredible life of Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) framing the biography with her personal experiences of coming of age at the height of the sexual revolution.During her lifetime Sanger transformed herself from working class nurse to an exuberant free-lover and savvy manipulator of the media the law and her wealthy supporters. Through direct action propaganda exile and imprisonment she ultimately succeeded in bringing legal access to birth control to women of all classes. Sangers revolutionary actions established organizations that eventually evolved into Planned Parenthood Federation of America.Joness autobiographical sections of Our Lady of Birth Control show her journey into activist art in response to the anti-feminist backlash of the Reagan era. From street theater and protest graphics to alternative comics her path similarly follows in Margarets footsteps encountering versions of the same adversaries. Her striking imagery evokes the late 20th century recalling the ashcan artists of The Masses an acclaimed magazine of Sangers formative years.Powerful poetic and extremely personal this historical graphic novel is an in-depth look at the woman responsible for bringing freedom to the masses.