Women's Studies 2283F/G Chapter Notes -Oophorectomy, Parenting, Sick Role
1 May 2013
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The sexual politics of sickness enhrenreich and english. Dr. mitchell did not want information from his patients; he wanted complete obedience. Women who felt sick or tired or simply depressed would not longer seek help from a friend or female healer, but from a male physician. Public pronouncements was that women were by nature weak, dependent and diseased. Scientific evidence that woman"s essential nature was not to be a strong, competent help giver but to be a patient. Doctors found a variety of diagnostic labels for the wave of invalidism gripping the female population. The syndrome was never fatal, but neither was it curable in most cases, the victims sometimes patiently outliving both husbands and physicians. The way this type of woman was expected to live predisposed her to sickness and sickness in turn predisposed her to continue to live as she was expected to.
