Woman in narratives of medical knowledge in the transition between XIX and XX centuries

Abstract

In this work, we discuss, from a historical perspective, the extent to which medical discourse has played a role in the production and conception of women (social roles, sexuality and body/health) in the transition between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The theses defended at the Medical School of Rio de Janeiro during this period were extremely relevant to the study because we mapped the material about the medical narratives of the time about sexuality and gender. We proposed a reflection about these productions, in other words, how the medical discourse helped to compose and to legitimize a drawing of woman that was and is transmitted in the relations with its pairs and not pairs.