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A review by bardic_llama
Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology by Deirdre Cooper Owens
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.5
With the title, it seemed as it was going to be encompassing multiple eras of history and groups so it was somewhat disappointing to discover it was only about the era surrounding antebellum south. Cause it seems like that should’ve been a good chunk of the book but not all of it. Like I was expecting the book to go over how being transgender has affected gynecology as well. Even then the book was still more about covering the procedures instead of the individual people & groups.
That said it was still a good read, I just think this is one of those where I’d be more interested in reading the person’s research for the book instead. And I’m still happy (happy’s not the right word) to have read this as I was able to learn a vast majority of medical advances in gynecology were at the expense/torment of slaves. Which while I want to say is surprising, at least to me, it isn’t as America was built on the back of racist institutions/disparities that still haven’t been fixed.
That said it was still a good read, I just think this is one of those where I’d be more interested in reading the person’s research for the book instead. And I’m still happy (happy’s not the right word) to have read this as I was able to learn a vast majority of medical advances in gynecology were at the expense/torment of slaves. Which while I want to say is surprising, at least to me, it isn’t as America was built on the back of racist institutions/disparities that still haven’t been fixed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation