TY - BOOK ID - 77888995 TI - The Nature of their Bodies PY - 1994 SN - 1282056492 9786612056499 1442681810 9781442681811 9781282056497 0802059015 0802068405 9780802068408 9780802059017 PB - Toronto DB - UniCat KW - Medicine KW - Women KW - Women patients KW - Female patients KW - Patients KW - Human females KW - Wimmin KW - Woman KW - Womon KW - Womyn KW - Females KW - Human beings KW - Femininity KW - Health Workforce KW - History KW - Health and hygiene KW - Kanada KW - Canada. KW - Canada KW - Canada (Province) KW - Canadae KW - Ceanada KW - Chanada KW - Chanadey KW - Dominio del Canadá KW - Dominion of Canada KW - Jianada KW - Kʻaenada KW - Kaineḍā KW - Ḳanadah KW - Kanadaja KW - Kanadas KW - Ḳanade KW - Kanado KW - Kanakā KW - Province of Canada KW - Republica de Canadá KW - Yn Chanadey KW - Puissance du Canada KW - Kanadier KW - Provinz Kanada KW - 01.07.1867 KW - -Medicine UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77888995 AB - In 1864 a woman was admitted to the Toronto asylum and diagnosed as suffering from 'mania, ' a not uncommon diagnosis for women, a step beyond 'hysteria.' The cause cited by doctors for the patient's insanity was lactation. This was one of the scores of cases cited by Wendy Mitchinson in her history of the medical treatment of women in Victorian Canada. The cases, combined with the medical literature of the period, reflect the society's preoccupations, both among the general population and the medical profession. Above all, they illustrate in sharp detail the society's perception of women. For most medical practitioners, the male body was taken to be the norm; women were 'other.' Doctors were uncomfortable with some of the central physiological experiences of women, such as menstruation and menopause. They often felt that healthy bodies should not undergo such stresses. From this attitude it was a short leap to viewing the normal functions of women's bodies as illnesses to be treated by specialists. One of the most significant medical developments of this period was the rise of gynaecology and medical obstetrics as major medical specialties. Practitioners used surgical gynaecology to alleviate disorders - mental as well as physical - in women. In documenting the changing nature of interventional medicine, Mitchinson considers the medical treatment of women within the context of what was available to physicians at the time. She also explores the kind of pressure that women themselves brought to bear. Faced with a medical profession that viewed them as creatures of weakness, women used their strength and stamina to change attitudes and treatments. ER -