19th Century Gender Roles

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn focuses on a poor American family in the early 1900s. They faced many hardships including those related to obstetrics. Medical care was not reliable during this time period and caused a variety of problems. The poor had the worst birthing conditions and were at a high risk for complications concerning themselves and the child. Betty Smith provides an accurate representation of medical care relating to delivery, infant mortality, and pregnancy at the turn of the twentieth century in her book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

The early twentieth century was a turning point in American history-especially in regards to the acquisition of women's rights. While the era was considered to be prosperous and later thought to be a happy-go-lucky time, in actuality, it was a time of grave social conflict and human suffering (Parish, 110). Among those who endured much suffering were women. As Margaret Sanger found out, women, especially those who were poor, had no choice regarding pregnancy. The only way not to get pregnant was by not having sex- a choice that was almost always the husband's. This was even more true in the case of lower-class men for whom, 'sex was the poor man's only luxury' (Douglas, 31). As a nurse who assisted in delivering

Douglas, Ann Wood. “”The Fashionable Diseases”: Women 's Complaints and Their Treatment in Nineteenth-Century America.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 4, no. 1 (1973): 25-52.

The Scythe and the Scalpel: Dissecting the Sterilizations of Native American Women in the 1970's

I have to let the readers know how I stumbled upon this topic to introduce where I get my ideas from. It all started in the archive located on the second floor of the library in a dark corner behind a clear glass doors at the Hunter College. I have been attending Hunter College for four years and never have I stumbled on such an amazing place full of live history. I say live history because all the documents and books that are held in the archive are all preserved originals, which fascinated me. Thinking how people who lived more than century ago wrote and read the same things I’m writing and reading about excited me to my very soul. Archive research though fascinating is not an easy task that can be done in within fifteen minutes like how researches are done these days using convenient technologies at hand.

Do you believe in gender equality? Gender equality is when one’s rights are not distinguished by their gender. Well, women in the 1700s, faced high levels of oppression. Men overpowered them in every sense. Consequently, they dealt with repression in many ways. In addition, Society placed men on a pedestal of higher importance and this perception made women look inferior to their counterparts. Women fulfilled certain nurture qualities by being caring mothers to their children, and submissive by being obedient wives to their husbands. Conversely, when stepping out of the household, women had to meet specific dress standards created by men. Women did everything they didn’t have any say over. Society placed women in a box and weren’t held up to the same standards as their counterparts, men. Both pieces like “An occasional letter on the female sex” by Thomas Paine and “On the Admission of Women Rights of Citizenship,” by Marquis de Condorcet did an excellent job antagonizing the idea that women were being treated like property and standing up for gender equality. During the 1700’s women’s rights were significantly suppressed; affecting them socially, politically and economically.

“Sir James Clarke’s Female Pills” and other similar products were part of a class of patent medicines targeted at women and advertised as a cure to a universe of “painful and dangerous diseases incident to the female constitution” (Fig. 5The Daily Globe 1856). They offered hope for women in search of relief from monthly discomforts. In actuality, patent medicine manufacturers were capitalizing on the increased demand for abortifacients by advertising products that restored the regularity of the monthly period. To avoid prosecution, veiled language was used to advertise their nature, which compelled women to consider them for the purpose of removing what was described as “irregularities,” “suppressions,” and “obstructions” of the menses and to deal with all causes of the cessation of menstrual flow (Fig. 5; The Daily Globe 1856; The Star of the North 1855).

Most Americans associate hospitals to be the standard place where women can give birth. However, women did not always deliver in hospitals. Gynecology, the medical practice dealing with the female reproductive system, did not emerge until the early nineteenth century. Before doctors came along, women used to hire midwives to deliver babies in the comfort of their own homes. In this paper I will examine the social, political, and scientific implications of how giving birth has transitioned from being a midwife’s job into that of a doctor’s. Furthermore, I will attempt to show how these implications intersect together to make birth a feminist issue. To support my argument, I will be referencing Tina Cassidy’s “The Dawn of the Doctors,” Abby Epstein’s documentary film The Business of Being Born, and Eesha Pandit’s article “America’s secret history of forced sterilization: Remembering a disturbing and not-so-distant past.” I argue that the processes surrounding birth are intersectional feminist issues because they are often manipulated by male figures pursuing money and authority, which ultimately compromises women’s health and power of choice.

Firstly, Ulrich tells a story of the role of a midwife in the eighteenth century America by explaining the types of medicines used, the frequent diseases, and the medical accomplishments of practitioners. Primarily, Ulrich makes it known that to care for the health and well-being of others was a woman’s obligation during this time. “It would be a serious misunderstanding to see Martha Ballard as a singular character, an unusual woman who somehow transcended the domestic sphere to become an acknowledged specialist” (62). Rather, Ulrich insists that Martha Ballard was a classic example of the majority of women in the early American Republic. Martha was a midwife, but also a wife and mother, which meant she had her “womanly” duties to pay attention to as

Men and women back in the 1800’s had very different rob roles compared to the job roles both genders have now in this day and age. Men in the 1800’s had to do more of the physically demanding jobs such as having to build houses, crafting tools and milled flour. While on the other hand the females had to do more of the dainty jobs such as daily house chores eg cooking and cleaning, looking after children, teaching and sewing. Many women were starting to realise that they deserved to have the same political rights as men and that they should be able to vote just like men do too. Women believed that if they were given the same chances and education as men they would be able to achieve just as much as men do if not even better things.

Men die in battle; women die in childbirth” (Gregory 1). This quote from the historical novel “The Red Queen” presents a straightforward reality that women and men believed before the advancements of modern medicine. In accordance with past social norms the time periods between the 17th and 19th century have shown that women would always hold the role as the weaker sex. Between the prejudice of men who considered themselves superior and the way history portrayed woman in a submissive light, there was no understanding of what women experienced throughout their lives. There may have been a few incidences that made an appearance here or there, but their significance would soon lose recognition in the masses of that time. Unfortunately, the only role that was considerably memorable for women during these eras was marrying into a well-off family and producing children. Still, even in this aspect of their lives women were viewed as inadequate. Childbirth held no advantage for men and midwifery was considered a profession that only a woman would be fitted for. In the late 1800’s a prominent surgeon by the name Sir Anthony Carlisle even went as far as to say that midwifery was a “humiliating office” and therefore “suitable only to women”( Massey 1). However, comments and thoughts like this would prove to be invalid as men became more immersed in the practice of childbirth. Fear of death led women of higher status away from traditional practices of female midwifery and they turned

A Midwife’s Tale opens a window into the life of a woman living in the late eighteenth century. The book uses Martha Ballard’s journal entries as she goes about her everyday life to exam the effects of the revolutionary age of America on an obscure citizen. “Her story allows us to see what was lost, as well as what was gained, in political, economic, and social transformations of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.” Martha’s daily habits that are written throughout her journal are an effective way of looking into the past and seeing how it has affected us today. “The late eighteenth century was not only an era of political revolution, but of medical, economic, and sexual transformation.

Martha Ballard is an 18th century midwife, herbalist, and physician who, for twenty seven years, kept a daily diary. By looking into Martha Ballard’s life we, as historians, gain valuable insight into the everyday lives of women in a brand new country, just on the cusp of beginning. We also discover that Martha’s accounts sometimes greatly differ from accepted historical truths. These can be seen in the difference between both economic history, legal documentation, and popular media written by men. Two of these star new discoveries can be evidenced in medical practices Martha uses and Martha’s importance in

“If a sweeping pestilence struck down as many women in a community as are taken in childbirth we would immediately be aroused,” claimed Beatrice E. Tucker, Director and Associate Obstetrician of The Chicago Maternity Center. Beatrice was determined to helped needed women, in a needed community, in Chicago. (Tucker, Beatrice E., and Harry B. Benaron, 1) The Chicago Maternity Center was founded in 1895, by Dr. Joseph DeLee. However, it was led and directed by Dr. Beatrice Tucker, accompanied by her partner Dr. Harry Benaron. The center was opened from 1932 until 1973. The center provided free obstetrical care for poor women while at the same time helping doctors train for the latest methods to as well provide safe delivery for these women (Simpson, 1). The center wasn’t such a famous hospital or clinic as the time. It also wasn’t located by means of a medical school, such as the University of Chicago. Instead, the Chicago Maternity Center was located at 1334 South Newberry Street, centered at Chicago’s West Side. The reason for this was because, when Beatrice Tucker became the Chicago Maternity Center’s leader, the community was trapped as a desperate poor immigrant working class (Simpson, 1). Therefore, the center had two purposes. The first, was to care for and treat poor women, in childbirth, right at their homes. Second, was to teach doctors, medical students, and nurses “the science and art of obstetrics” (Tucker, Beatrice E., and Harry B. Benaron, 1). Through these

Gender roles were sharply defined in the 19th century. Women were expected to stay at home and carry out the domestic duties as well as taking care of the children and educate them and provide a peaceful home for their husband. Women were seen as loving and caring. On the other hand, men were expected to work and earn money for the family. They would fight wars and were seen as strong and powerful. Men had more freedom and rights, such as the right to vote, than women in the 19th century. Society had created two completely separate spheres. In the medical field, men were doctors. There were laws in many states, such as, that prohibited women from becoming doctors. Women, who decided to practice medicine in the 19th century had to struggle with much opposition because it went against prevailing ideas about women’s role in society. Women belonged in the private and domestic sphere. Men belonged to competitive and immoral public sphere of industry and commerce. The women in medicine would face accusations that they were abandoning their sphere and threatening society. Due to these arguments and the fear of economic competition from female practitioner, male medical schools and hospitals denied women access to institutions. However, Elizabeth Blackwell, changed this idea of separate spheres when she decided to take on the medical field and become a doctor. Although Elizabeth Black had a natural aversion to the medical field, her