WOMEN'S LIVES IN THE MEDICAL DEBATE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRAZIL

Abstract

This article examines the medical theses produced in the Medical Schools of nineteenth-century Brazil that deal with the issue of complicated births and debate which existence should have priority, that of the pregnant woman or the fetus. This debate followed the strategies of power and social prestige of its graduates and the institutionalization of medical practice. The objective is to reflect on the construction of male knowledge about the female body, the basis of which consisted of the definition of sexual differences and the consequent framing of the latter in terms of reproductive capacity and the exercise of motherhood.

Keywords
History; Abortion; Cesarean section; Medical theses; 19th century; Gender studies