The Genocide of An Archipelago
Birth Control
When an epidemic of STDs spread amongst the American soldiers of WWI, a pressure was created by the military to educate them on how to prevent the spread of disease. The feminist movement used this momentum to press the government to find a solution for birth control. During the process of educating the general public on planned parenthood, a trio of Clarence Gamble, Margaret Sanger, and Gregory Pincus decided to create an oral contraceptive. Instead of following FDA protocol, they started to test the pill on Puerto Rican women. You may ask yourself, "Why?" Well, it was because Puerto Rico had 50% of the population below the poverty line, Puerto Rico didn't have the same restrictions or regulations America had, and they were eugenicists trying to weed out the "unfit," or more commonly known as people of color. The number of sterilizations performed on women led to the population drastically decreasing in size, the fertility rate dropping to 6th in the world and women losing ownership over their bodies to their government. I soon discovered one of the government's motivation to sterilize the women was to put them in sweatshops so officials could become rich while fabric and other goods were scarce during WWII in Europe.
Social Studies
Mind Map
In Social Studies, I focused my research on the effect birth control had on Puerto Rico. I created context in my research by analyzing the Puerto Rican's view on birth control vs. the American's view. The most astounding aspect of this project was learning the Puerto Rican government continued to forcefully sterilize women despite knowing there were no economic benefits beyond not having to provide for the welfare of another child. My end product was a mind map that displayed all the rights the Puerto Rican government violated by forcefully sterilizing women. I created this because I wanted to expose the forgotten history for what it is. The mind map even has a legend that shows a cause and effect of the event. This map is not only a display of information, but it is a history we can not forget.
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English
Art
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Sculptures
For art, I focused my sculptures on the feelings of women struggling to provide for their family, yet have to be sterilized. I created context in my art piece by using political cartoons from the novel I read. The most astounding aspect of this project was learning how to shape resin and foam to become hands and then making them realistic enough to become a unit. My end product was the two sculptures displayed in a pose of the hand trying to stop the arm with political cartoons from fighting. I created this because I wanted to convey my emotions from the issue: I felt angered this story was unknown because women lost control of their bodies to their husbands and government. This sculpture is a display of my opinion, and it felt important that I could stamp my say on this project without becoming biased in my social studies and english portions.
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