Diagnosing Desire: Gender & Medicine in US History ((3 Credits))

Catalog description

From the 19th century on in the U.S., the profession of medicine has played an increasingly important role in naturalizing the social constructions of gender and sexuality. From the development of mid- 19th century gynecological surgeries and treatments to curb female sexual drives which were perceived as socially dangerous, through the forced sterilizations of the eugenics movement, to the involuntary treatment of intersex infants in the present, medicine has had an important role in regulating gender and reinforcing social gender roles. At the same time, medicine has had potentially liberatory effects on social sexual restraints and provided a public arena to contest repressive social practices. From the development of birth control to the women’s health movement, medicine has been used to reframe social debates on acceptable sexual beliefs and practices. This course satisfies one 3-credit elective requirement of the American Studies or the Women’s and Gender Studies advanced certificates.