Slavery, Menstruation, and the Birth of American Gynecology | HISTORY OF PERIODS (Part 4)

Slave women in Antebellum America probably didn't have an easy time when they were on their periods. However, their reproductive health was very important to their owners. As modern gynecology began emerging in the 19th century, white male doctors not only extended the control of slaveholders over their slaves' reproductive health, but began experimenting with new surgeries and treatment on the bodies of black women. The effects of such medical experimentation wasn't just the discovery of new gynecological procedures, but assumptions about race and biology that continue to influence the medical care received by black women today. Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 5:15 - Managing Periods in the 19th century 11:28 - Slave Women, Periods, and White Doctors 20:34 - Experimental Surgery on Slave Women 30:20 - Race-based Medicine and the Black Body 39:11 - Conclusion References: Adams, Char. “Study Shows Girls Are Experiencing Menstrual Cycles Younger.” NBC News, 29 May 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-children-period-earlier-irregular-menstrual-cycle-rcna154480. Balzer, Deb. “Mayo Clinic Minute: Black women and uterine fibroids.” Mayo Clinic, 28 July 2022, newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-black-women-and-uterine-fibroids/#:~:text=Black%20women%20in%20the%20U.S.,%2Dimage%2C%20and%20affect%20fertility. Bellamy, Claretta. “How Uterine Fibroids Disproportionally Affect Black Women.” NBC News, 21 Mar. 2022, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-women-start-talk-uterine-fibroids-condition-many-get-speak-rcna20478. Frydman, Tess. AMERICA’S BLOODY HISTORY: MENSTRUATION MANAGEMENT IN THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY. 2018, www.academia.edu/72560482/Americas_bloody_history_menstruation_management_in_the_mid_nineteenth_century. Gunja, Munira Z., et al. “Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison.” The Commonwealth Fund, 4 June 2024, www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/jun/insights-us-maternal-mortality-crisis-international-comparison. Hollick, Frederick. Diseases of Woman, Their Causes and Cure Familiarly Explained; with Practical Hints for their Prevention, and for the Preservation of Female Health. Excelsior Publishing House, 1876, archive.org/details/diseasesofwomant00holl/page/n7/mode/2up. Schwartz, Marie Jenkins. Birthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South. Harvard UP, 2010, https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978.... Owens, Deirdre Cooper. Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology. University of Georgia Press, 2017, https://ugapress.org/book/97808203547.... Image credits: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16k3L... Music by SoyKhaler on Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/users/soykhaler-6...)