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Medical Women: Two Essays

Chapter 4: II. Medical Education of Women,
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About This Book

Two essays argue for admitting women to the medical profession and for their proper scientific education. The author disputes appeals to nature and custom, contending that caregiving tendencies and domestic practice indicate women's aptitude for clinical work and that nursing should not be their sole domain. The pieces examine social and institutional obstacles, specify the kinds of instruction and clinical access required, and urge legal and educational reform to allow women to study and practise as qualified physicians, while stressing individual liberty, rigorous professional standards, and respect for patients' dignity.

II.
Medical Education of Women,
THE SUBSTANCE OF A LECTURE
DELIVERED ON APRIL 26TH, 1872, IN ST GEORGE’S HALL, LONDON,
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY IN THE CHAIR.


“You misconceive the question like a man,
Who sees a woman as the complement
Of his sex merely. You forget too much
That every creature, female as the male,
Stands single in responsible act and thought,
As also in birth and death.
......
—— I would rather take my part
With God’s Dead, who afford to walk in white,
Yet spread His glory, than keep quiet here
And gather up my feet from even a step
For fear to soil my gown in so much dust.
I choose to walk at all risks.”
Aurora Leigh.