Women, male doctors, and female historians: a historiographic essay on the history of women, medicine, and gender

The article presents a partial historiographical review of the history of women, science, and medicine, a prolific, heterogeneous field of studies that intersects politically with feminism and has been written mostly by women. This survey presents the main streams of thought in the field, which established itself in the second half of the twentieth century. It also describes the historical context in which this scholarship was produced, the topics that were defined, and the field’s theoretical references, sources, and research problems. Given the vastness of this scholarship, the article focuses on writings in the English language, particularly the most expressive approaches and theoretical and methodological contributions.

historiography; women’s history; medicine; science; gender