Why barrier contraceptives (like diaphragms) are so unpopular
The Prorace cervical cap took off in England in 1915. (Science Museum, London/)Donna J. Drucker is senior adviser in English as the Language of Instruction at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. She’s most recently the author of Contraception: A Concise History. This story originally featured on MIT Press Reader.Women have used internal barriers in an attempt to prevent pregnancies as far back as ancient Egypt. However, they only became widely known and used after World War I, when they became available commercially and via birth control clinics in the US, UK, Germany, and Austria. As these devices became more widespread, they gradually began appearing in novels and plays: Writers from Mary McCarthy to Philip Roth used them to symbolize specific moments in women’s sexual and reproductive lives, their growth into adulthood, and their romantic—often extramarital—relationships.While barriers provided women with contraceptive control, the symbolic implications of these devices went far beyond control...