Ancient Medicine and Gender

1. Ancient Medicine and Gender

2. Male and Female bodies • Women’s bodies were discussed separately only where they departed from male anatomy • Several important studies from antiquity set the foundations of gynaecology: • Hippocrates: On the Seed, Nature of Woman, Diseases of Women, Afflictions of Virgins • SoranosGynaecology • These differ greatly from each other, but several underlying principles are common

3. Important principles • The male is biologically superior (a common view, but not universal) • The male is hotter, and drier; the female is colder and wetter • Much of what can go wrong with women, which does not afflict men, has to do with menstrual blood; its retention causes disease • Thus it is necessary for the womb’s mouth to be kept open through regular intercourse • Virginity is harmful and must be immediately corrected through marriage and sex with a man. • The dominant view among physicians is that both men and women contribute seed to procreation. This explains why children look like both parents.

4. Biology and society • Social views on male superiority influence biological perceptions. • The good/right side of the body and the bad/left side • Women are by nature inferior • Women are sex-crazed, as Aristophanic comedy suggests, simply because it is mandated by their biology. • Sexual pleasure has a biological explanation and thus is perfectly natural and expected; its suppression is unhealthy and detrimental to the body.