HCA Lunchtime Seminar
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
No booking required
Dr Caroline Rusterholz (BISR/BiGS Fellow)
'Leading the way: English women doctors and contraception in transnational perspective (1930-1970)'
This talk explores the pivotal role played by English women doctors in the legitimisation and production of scientific knowledge on contraception from 1920 onwards. This paper shows that the male-dominated field of medicine discriminated against women in terms of career opportunities until the end of World War II, allowing women doctors to exploit this peripheral position to develop new skills. Albeit less prestigious at first, these skills became decisive assets at both the national and international levels in a context of increasing worldwide recognition of the key importance of birth control knowledge. Taking a gender and transnational perspective this talk reconsiders the well-known issue of birth control and family planning.