Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction: The Ethos of the Feminine Professional; 1. Debating the Character of the Woman Physician; 2. Prescribing for Society: Women Physicians' Reform Rhetoric; 3. Educating the Public: Women Physicians' Popular Health Advice; 4. Teaching Women to Talk about Sex; 5. Developing Collective Ethos in Medical Editorial Writing; 6. Revising the Physician's Ethos: Women Physicians' Medical Research; Conclusion: Toward Feminist Ethos; Notes; Works Cited; Index; Author Biography; Studies in Rhetorics and Feminisms
Summary
Women physicians in nineteenth-century America faced a unique challenge in gaining acceptance to the medical field as it began its transformation into a professional institution. The profession had begun to increasingly insist on masculine traits as signs of competency. Not only were these traits inaccessible to women according to nineteenth-century gender ideology, but showing competence as a medical professional was not enough. Whether women could or should be physicians hinged mostly on maintaining their femininity while displaying the newly established standard traits of successful practit
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-209) and index
