Start Date
4-26-2023 9:00 AM
Disciplines
History
Subjects
US History, Medical Malpractice, Oppression of Women in Medicine, 19th Century Mental Asylums, Dorothea Dix, Nelly Bly, Women's Rights
Abstract
“Institutionalizing Femininity” explores the origins of the medicalization of gender norms in 19th century mental asylums. This paper examines the connections between rampant medical malpractice in 19th century American mental asylums, and how these abuses were a symptom of the patriarchy in the medical community acting to oppress the female psyche. One of the major issues this paper examines is the indistinguishability between psychiatry and gynecology in this time period. Gynecologists created the notion that women’s reproductive organs made them insane, by arguing that issues in the uterus or reproductive organs, or simply possessing female reproductive organs could cause insanity. These gynecologists may not have actually believed that the female reproductive system caused insanity, but instead used their status as medical professionals to create a narrative that upheld male dominance by creating a distinction between the “superior” male sex and the naturally insane female. The medical system of institutionalization also allowed husbands to have total control over their wives. In many cases, husbands could have their wives institutionalized simply for holding different religious beliefs and after marriage, assumed the legal rights of his wife. Beginning with the muckraking journalism of Dorothea Dix and ending with an examination of increased mental health legislation and the DSM’s creation of diagnostic categories for mental illness in the mid 20th century, this paper outlines the changes in medical malpractice and societal attitudes that have led to the formation and increased standards of modern medical practice.
Creative Commons License or Rights Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40141
Included in
Institutionalizing Femininity: A History of Medical Malpractice and Oppression of Women Through 19th century American Mental Asylums
“Institutionalizing Femininity” explores the origins of the medicalization of gender norms in 19th century mental asylums. This paper examines the connections between rampant medical malpractice in 19th century American mental asylums, and how these abuses were a symptom of the patriarchy in the medical community acting to oppress the female psyche. One of the major issues this paper examines is the indistinguishability between psychiatry and gynecology in this time period. Gynecologists created the notion that women’s reproductive organs made them insane, by arguing that issues in the uterus or reproductive organs, or simply possessing female reproductive organs could cause insanity. These gynecologists may not have actually believed that the female reproductive system caused insanity, but instead used their status as medical professionals to create a narrative that upheld male dominance by creating a distinction between the “superior” male sex and the naturally insane female. The medical system of institutionalization also allowed husbands to have total control over their wives. In many cases, husbands could have their wives institutionalized simply for holding different religious beliefs and after marriage, assumed the legal rights of his wife. Beginning with the muckraking journalism of Dorothea Dix and ending with an examination of increased mental health legislation and the DSM’s creation of diagnostic categories for mental illness in the mid 20th century, this paper outlines the changes in medical malpractice and societal attitudes that have led to the formation and increased standards of modern medical practice.