INTERNALIZED

SEXISM IN MEDICINE
Janice Werbinski, MD, FACOG
Immediate Past President
American College of Women’s Health
Physicians
Associate Clinical Professor
Michigan State University
College of Human Medicine
Internalized Sexism in
Medicine
Historical Quotes from JAMA
Quotes from Colleagues
Case Presentation
 JAMA 100 Years Ago
1892;19:36-37
Impairment of the Voice, in Female Singers,
Due to Diseased Sexual Organs

“That there is this intimate connection between the

nerves of the uterus and those of the larynx, as
above claimed, I am positive of, for I have time
and again witnessed their reflex action on
several of my patients.”
 JAMA 100 Years Ago
1891;16(24):837-839

“It is but logical to conclude that the voice, heart,

brain and other troubles were dependent upon
that of the womb or the ovaries. …a very large
percentage of the neurosis are dependent upon
local disease within the pelvis…”…hysteria, or
melancholia or insanity, both alike dependent
upon pelvic neurosis, which fact goes to prove
conclusively the interdependence between
gynecology and neurology.”
 JAMA 100 Years Ago
Charles P. Noble, M.D.
1893;21:410-415
“The principal causes of the diseases of women
are:
1. Imperfect development of the sexual organs
2. Gonorrhea
3. Septic inflammation following childbirth
4. Lacerations due to childbirth
5. Miscellaneous causes, including constipation,
erroneous habits of life, and errors of dress…”
 JAMA 100 Years Ago
George H. Rohe, M.D.
1893;21:325
LACTATIONAL INSANITY
“Dr. Bevan Lewis regards the exhaustion and
sequelae of labor, and defective uterine
involution as important etiologic factors,
especially in the earlier cases of lactational
insanity. It appears that the local pelvic
irritations acting upon the central organ (brain)
are active, both as determining the duration as
well as the course of mental disorder.”
 JAMA 100 Years Ago
1898;30:269-271
SHENCK’S THEORY OF SEX DETERMINATION
“…paternal superiority determines the superior
male sex. That paternal nutrition aids in
determining this superiority, and finally that while
the mother is of an inferior sex, her good
nutrition aids in determining the superior male
offspring…”
“Fortunately, enthusiastic oophorectomists are
rendering sterile no small number of female
neurotics, thus lending potent assistance to the
survival of the fittest pelvic organs..”
For Her Own Good: 150 Years of
the Expert’s Advice to Women
English B, NY Anchor Press, Doubleday, 1978

“In 1873, Dr. Edward H. Clarke wrote in a

medical text that “Higher education would
cause women’s uteruses to atrophy.”