Linda LaRoque and the Comstock Law of 1873

I want to welcome fellow author Linda LaRoque to my blog. Linda’s here to talk about her new release and a little bit of historical information that I’m sure you’ll find interesting.

Condoms and the Comstock Law of 1873

The American Social Hygiene Association fought hard to prohibit condom use in the early part of this century. Social hygienists believed that anyone who risked getting "venereal" diseases should suffer the consequences, including American doughboys — U.S. soldiers who fought in World War I. The American Expeditionary Forces, as our army was called, were denied the use of condoms, so it is not surprising that by the end of the war our troops had very high rates of sexually transmitted infections. Like most people throughout history, our "boys" were just unable to "just say 'no'" (Brandt, 1985). Law of 1873

One of the challenges that Margaret Sanger faced as she fought for women's right to use birth control was the double standard regarding condom use. Doctors were allowed to "prescribe" condoms to protect men from syphilis and gonorrhea when they had premarital or extramarital sexual intercourse. The men could not, however, get condoms to protect their wives from unintended pregnancy (Brandt, 1985; Valdiserri, 1988).

Sanger had to find a way around the Comstock laws, which prohibited the transport of birth control devices or information through the mail. Her solution, clever — as well as illegal — also involved the diaphragm (Chesler, 1992).

A History of Birth Control Methods

Planned Parenthood

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/resources/research-papers/bc-history-6547.htm

Comstock laws

The Comstock Act, (ch. 258 17 Stat. 598 enacted March 3, 1873) is a United States federal law which made it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, and/or lascivious" materials through the mail, including contraceptive devices and information. In addition to banning contraceptives, this act also banned the distribution of information on abortion for educational purposes. Twenty-four states passed similar prohibitions on materials distributed within the states.^[1] Collectively, these state and federal restrictions are known as the Comstock laws.

The Comstock Laws were variously case tested, but courts struggled to establish definitive thinking about the laws. One of the most notable applications of Comstock was Roth v. United States, in which the Supreme Court affirmed Comstock, but set limits on what could be considered obscene. This landmark case represented one of the first notable revisions since the Hicklin test, and the evolving nature of the laws on which Comstock was conceived.

The sale and distribution of obscene materials had been prohibited prior to Comstock in most American states since the early 1800s, and by federal law since 1873. Federal anti-obscenity laws are currently still in effect and enforced,^[2] though the definition of obscenity has changed much (now expressed in the Miller Test) and extensive debates on what is "obscene" continues.

A Marshall of Her Own – Blurb

Despite rumors of "strange doings"at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer Charity Dawson disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, caught in the swirling mist that surrounds the cabin, she finds herself in 1890, in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.ite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer Charity Dawson disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, caught in the swirling mist that

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

Leave a comment to win an e-copy of A Law of Her Own

About Linda:

Linda LaRoque is a Texas girl, but the first time she got on a horse, it tossed her in the road dislocating her right shoulder. Forty years passed before she got on another, but it was older, slower, and she was wiser. Plus, her students looked on and it was important to save face.

A retired teacher who loves West Texas, its flora and fauna, and its people, Linda’s stories paint pictures of life, love, and learning set against the raw landscape of ranches and rural communities in Texas and the Midwest. She is a member of RWA, her local chapter of HOTRWA, NTRWA and Texas Mountain Trail Writers.

Linda LaRoque
Writing Romance with a Twist in Time
www.lindalaroque.com
http://www.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com
http://www.authorsbymoonlight.com
http://thewritersvineyard.com/

Linda’s blog tour continues Nov. 30 – Nikki Barrett http://www.stormgoddessbookreviews.blogspot.com/ - The Hoosier.

Thanks Linda for stopping by. Loved the “condom” history! Don't forget to leave a comment!

The Urumchi Mummies - and Fiona

"Fiona" (my debut novel) evolved from watching a segment of the Discovery Channel about the discovery of Caucasian Mummies in the Taklamakan Desert of Northern China. These mummies, possibly Tocharian Celts, existed in that part of the world long before Caucasians were thought to have made their appearance. No one knows where they came from or where they went. Maybe they subsequently interbred with the nearby Uyghur tribes, which could account for the lighter skin and rounder eyes of the peoples in the area. It is a question whose answer is lost in time. After I set the parameters of my story, I purchased a copy of Elizabeth Wayland Barber's The Mummies of Urumchi. She discusses textiles, basketry, weaving and carding, and other aspects of these people's daily life, things I needed to give color to my slant on life 4,000 years B.C. My heroine, Fiona, is based on the discovery of one such mummy, a young blonde woman, possibly a sacrificial victim. Dismemberment was a common form of torture to the ancients. In almost every culture, there is mention of this horrific end result. There wasn't much I could do to alleviate her suffering, but perhaps I could write her a better end.

Step Back 40,000 Years - Could You Survive

Ever wonder if modern man could survive the trials and hardships of the last great Ice Age? I've always been interested in ancient history, the farther back the better. Most of my stories have some basis in fact, a snippet of the unusual in the pages of time.

After a particularly engrossing chapter of the Discovery Channel about the discovery of the Oetzi, the frozen mummified body in the Alps, http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/22/oetzi-iceman.html, the idea for my time travel novel, Riley’s Journey, came into being. I was captivated by the trials and tribulations this ancient man must have endured before his eventual death. Why was he in that place, frozen for all time?

The Iceman was shot with an arrow--the head of which remained lodged in his shoulder -- that fatally severed his left subclavian artery. He also suffered a traumatic cerebral lesion, the consequence of a trauma from a blow or a fall onto the rocks.

My creative juices flowed. How would modern man measure up under the same circumstances? Would he fare better? Worse? Without modern conveniences, would he even survive? My personal opinion was…perhaps. But it would have to be an individual skilled in living off the land, comfortable with crafting and using ancient weaponry, and the daring to go forth and multiply. A lone person might survive (Nathan in Riley’s Journey), but without human society, would he have the will to continue? Okay, so perhaps a band of time travelers, each with skills essential to begin life in a prehistoric setting would be a better fit under the circumstances.

The parameters of my manuscript were set. In the beginning, I contemplated the story taking place at about the same time period as the Oetzi mummy. Ultimately, I went back even farther, to 40,000 years ago during the last great Ice Age when Cro-Magnon and Neanderthals both inhabited the earth. http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/iceciv.html#geminga35k

I now I had my time period. I needed to set up the location where the time travelers would ultimately end. Early man is thought to have migrated from Africa and spread out. See, for example, The Real Eve, Modern Man’s Journey Out of Africa by Stephen Oppenheimer. Research into the nearby land masses led me to decide on an area of the Far East, in what would eventually be the southern areas of China. This area’s climatology 40,000 years ago would support the basic needs of life in primordial Earth. (Id.)

Early humans were hunter/gatherers. What animals existed in that time and place and which were predators and which were prey? In Riley’s Journey, the protagonists were the aggressive Cro-Magnon and their influx into the primitive Neanderthals’ territory. In the sequel to Riley’s Journey, Into the Savage Dawn, soon to be released by Willow Moon Publishing, the protagonist is still the Cro-Magnon but with the added twist of a giant cave bear who stalks Geena and Seth (hero and heroine) after they involuntarily intrude on his territory.

Research into primordial Earth is fascinating. Cave bears, saber-toothed cats and giant sloths were just a few of the many creatures who have suffered from the effects of evolution along with the giant megaloceros (elk), the wooly mammoths and the wooly rhinoceros.

For more information, the following sites are good reading for all ages:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/Iceagemammals.shtml

http://www.prehistory.com/

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/7309-animals-of-the-ice-age

Riley’s Journey by P. L. Parker

Into the Savage Dawn by P. L. Parker

Coming in the future- soon I hope - the third in the series (no name yet)

Excerpt from Will o' the Wisp

Stalked across the vast reaches of the universe, Tannis, the last fecund female of the clan Light Bringers, takes refuge on Earth, veiling herself within the dying form of a human female. Her energy forces are flagging and to rejuvenate, she must seek the healing properties of the sun’s rays, but by doing so, she risks discovery by the hunter. Time is short and Kadin—the most feared assassin of all—draws near!

Excerpt from my latest short story, Will o' the Wisp:

“Hold her down while I sedate her.”

“No!” Tannis screamed out. “If I sleep, he’ll find me!”

“No one is going to hurt you,” the woman soothed. “We just want you to calm down.” “You don’t understand! I can’t sleep,” she cried. “If I do, he’ll destroy me.”

“No one’s going to destroy you,” Laura said as she reattached the tubes. “We won’t let them,” she glanced at the other two. “Will we?”

They shook their heads. “Not on our watch,” one replied.

“But…but you won’t even know he’s here until it’s too late.”

A hand squeezed her shoulder. “You’re in ICU. No one gets in here without us knowing about it.”

“You can’t know…,” she moaned as more drugs entered the body’s system. “He won’t rest until I’m eliminated.”