Women have always been healers, and medicine has always been an arena of struggle between female practitioners and male professionals. This pamphlet explores two important phases in the male takeover of health care: the suppression of witches in medieval Europe and the rise of the male medical profession in the United States. The authors conclude that despite efforts to exclude them, the resurgence of women as healers should be a long-range goal of the women's movement.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Excellent overview of oppression of women healers and women in general:
This pamphlet gives an excellent overview of the oppression of women healers and women in general at the hands of the church and the medical establishment. A must read for anyone interested in medical history, feminism and anti-oppression work.
disappointing:
I purchased this book looking for an historical perspective of women healers. Although this book does provide a history it is extremely biased towards the feminist idealogy. The book was written in the 70's and it shows with it's bias and underlying anger. The good thing about reading this is to realise how far women and the health system have come in the equality debate.
An Outdated and Flawed Thesis:
Ehrenreich and English's book has been highly influential in some feminist and New Age circles since its publication in the early 70s. Its thesis - that the women persecuted as "witches" in the Witch Craze tended to be midwives and healers - fits neatly with some ideological views of the suppression of women and has since been seen as historical confirmation of a patriarchal desire to control science and medicine and maintain control over birth, healing and women's bodies. As a result, their thesis has... more info
great easy read:
It's less than 50 pages long, but it's a great short history about witches, midwives, and nurses. It tells about how the profession began and why there aren't more women in the field today. It's good to learn the history of things that is rarely talked about. I would highly recommend this book to whoever may be interested!
