Lindsay Dial, Kristina Williams, Tom Robisheaux
Type: Lab
Lindsay’s research has focused on midwifery in early modern Europe and writing a paper to fill gaps in the existing study of the topic. Her project examines attitudes towards midwives present in early modern Europe through a study of prevalent rhetoric about their competence in the medical literature. Scholarship on early modern midwifery has largely left the topic of negative stereotyping in medical writings unaddressed. However, it is an important aspect of the relationship between midwives and the medical establishment and thus a significant component of midwives’ broader social and professional roles. Further, medical rhetoric about midwives helps to contextualize larger contemporary trends in misogyny. I have found that midwives were substantially more competent than common depictions in contemporary medical writings imply, and that critiques of midwifery by male physicians and surgeons reflect a comprehensive effort to exclude women from medicine and sustain male power over women in all areas of society. The criticisms of male medical professionals targeted the personal integrity of midwives as well as their alleged lack of skill. Scrutiny of their proficiency tends to be vague, and often comes from men who had far less practical obstetrical experience than midwives, sometimes having only theoretical training. Lindsay presents an overview of these findings and discusses the purpose, content, and methods used in my pa