<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBut it was clear that Mary was not one to shy away from challenges, and she relentlessly searched for ways to publish her book. Finally, success came her way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1917, she met Humphrey Verdon Rowe, a philanthropist, businessman, and aircraft manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, Rowe had been searching for a clinic that would help regulate the number of children in families. He had been prompted by his observations of many women in Manchester who, generally speaking, had large families. Yet, Rowe couldn’t find a hospital willing to take on this venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s when he met Mary, and he agreed to finance the publication of her book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, Mary’s work Married Love or Love in Marriage<\/em> was published.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMoreover, their relationship soon transcended professional boundaries, and in 1918, they married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as Humphrey had helped Mary with her book, she supported him in fulfilling his dream of opening a birth control clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary became the head of the new facility, and Rowe took on the role of secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>A Relevant Topic<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nReturning to Mary’s book, it\u2019s important to note that it was highly relevant. Before World War I, women lived with the belief that sexual pleasure was a man\u2019s privilege, and women should feel ashamed of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, many women at the time experienced feelings of guilt during sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary\u2019s book became a real sensation. It argued that it was not only acceptable but necessary for women to enjoy sexual life, as it was natural for both genders. Additionally, the author also discussed contraception methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Long-Awaited Success and Conflict with the Church<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe book achieved incredible success and became a true bestseller by modern standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many young couples took the book with them on their honeymoon, and long-married couples found solutions to their sexual problems. Among women, it became common to whisper about sexual techniques and contraception during gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boldest women visited Mary\u2019s clinic, which specialized in birth control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result of all the excitement, companies producing contraceptives began using Mary’s name to increase their product sales. This, however, was precisely Mary\u2019s ultimate goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1930, when the Anglican Church officially endorsed family planning, Mary achieved a complete triumph. However, it\u2019s worth noting that by then, Mary had developed a sense of grandeur, and with her success came an air of arrogance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to clergymen who supported family planning, Mary said that she was speaking the words of God Himself and that she was His prophet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she didn\u2019t stop there\u2014she went on to write The New Gospel to All People<\/em>. In this book, Mary sought to rewrite the relationship between men and women. However, this became the \u201clast straw\u201d for the church fathers. Firstly, the title of the book was, to say the least, audacious. Secondly, the church refused to give the desperate author the opportunity to implement her changes in church life. This eventually led to a confrontation between the church and Mary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Failed Childbirth<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 1919, a significant event occurred in Mary\u2019s personal life\u2014she became pregnant. However, when the time came to give birth, Mary had an argument with the doctors. The reason was their refusal to allow her to give birth on her knees (which she wanted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, despite the doctors\u2019 warnings, tragedy struck. Mary gave birth to a stillborn child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doctors speculated that she had syphilis, but the tests did not confirm this. Mary then confidently blamed the doctors for killing her baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of the tragedy, she was 38 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Tormenting Her Son<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen Mary turned 43, she finally gave birth to a healthy boy named Harry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, motherhood revealed new traits in Mary\u2019s character, and unfortunately, they were far from good. The well-known feminist turned out to be a true “monster mother.” She literally tormented her child, treating him as her personal social experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She forbade her son to wear trousers, believing that they hindered the natural ventilation of his genitals. As a result, the boy wore skirts until the age of eleven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also forbade him to read, as she believed that books hindered independent thinking. Riding a bicycle was also prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, despite his difficult childhood, Harry never condemned his mother. On the contrary, he defended her from societal judgment. Despite all of Mary\u2019s efforts, her son grew up to resemble his father\u2014noble, wise, and forgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Adoptive “Mother”<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s worth mentioning that due to her age, Mary could no longer have children. However, she claimed that she would have liked to have an \u201cextra\u201d child. So, she decided to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon visiting an orphanage, she immediately set several conditions: the child must be healthy, uncircumcised, and intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first child in Mary\u2019s home was a three-year-old orphan, reluctantly given up by his aunt. But after a while, when Mary boasted about improvements in the child’s behavior thanks to her methods, the aunt urgently took him back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, Mary adopted Dick, but soon returned him to the orphanage because she couldn\u2019t achieve the right results with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third child she adopted was a boy named John. But she also returned him because he lacked the \u201cacademic abilities and literary and artistic perception\u201d she desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fourth boy was almost immediately returned because he \u201cwasn\u2019t suitable for life in respectable families,\u201d and the child had simply wet himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Another \u201cTrait of Character\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nMary was a member of the eugenics society, and in 1921, she founded the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Improvement, which was based on eugenic principles. Mary actively promoted the idea of \u201csterilizing everyone who is unfit to have children, including the mentally disabled and promiscuous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When World War II began, Mary revealed yet another \u201ctrait of her character.\u201d She rejected a Jewish refugee child, explaining that she \u201cdidn\u2019t want to offend her guests.\u201d This revealed her deeply anti-Semitic views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, she decided to send a collection of her own poems to Hitler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, her respect for the Nazi leader evaporated when he decided to close the German birth control clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThus, Mary Stokes\u2019 personality is highly controversial. On the one hand, she was a feminist who cared about equality between men and women (even within marriage). But on the other hand, her behavior towards her son and adopted children undermines all of her accomplishments. In addition to her fierce anti-Semitic views, she also sought to interfere with church traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certainly, Mary can be viewed in various ways. However, there is no denying that she became one of the most famous feminists of her time. Her legacy continues to be studied, and new facts and details about her life are still being discovered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mary Stokes, without a doubt, has gone down in history. She was a scientist and a feminist. But her main focus was birth control. She made a true breakthrough by founding the first birth control clinic in Britain. Edinburghka will tell you more. Her book Married Love became an international bestseller. This work discussed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":379,"featured_media":3032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1035],"tags":[1587,1596,1590,1595,1583,1603,1601,1576,1586,1600,1593,1588,1602,1585],"motype":[1045],"moformat":[127],"moimportance":[34,33],"class_list":{"0":"post-3012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-psychology-of-women","8":"tag-activism","9":"tag-activity","10":"tag-feminism","11":"tag-feminist","12":"tag-law","13":"tag-lecture","14":"tag-people","15":"tag-protection","16":"tag-psychology","17":"tag-society","18":"tag-suffragette","19":"tag-suffragism","20":"tag-voting","21":"tag-women","22":"motype-eternal","23":"moformat-longrid-korotka","24":"moimportance-golovna-novina","25":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/379"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3012"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3027,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions\/3027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburghka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}