Female Barrenness, Bodily Access and Aromatic Treatments in Seventeenth-Century England (2014)
Evans, Jennifer (Author)
Historical Research: The Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
Volume: 87
Pages: 423--443
Across the seventeenth century medical self-help manuals noted that aromatic substances were a suitable remedy for female barrenness. It has often been suggested that in the early modern period physicians did not touch their patients but instead relied upon patient narrative to diagnose and treat the sick body. This article problematizes this issue by investigating the multi-sensory approach to treating infertility, a disorder invested with concerns of gendered bodily access. It will be demonstrated that the recommendation of aromatic treatments for infertility allowed male physicians a means to negotiate the complex gender boundaries that restricted their access to women's bodies.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Evans, Jennifer;
(2012)
“Gentle Purges Corrected with Hot Spices, Whether They Work or Not, Do Vehemently Provoke Venery”: Menstrual Provocation and Procreation in Early Modern England
(/isis/citation/CBB001210684/)
Book
Hannah Dudley-Shotwell;
(2020)
Revolutionizing Women's Healthcare: The Feminist Self-Help Movement in America
(/isis/citation/CBB446855800/)
Article
Theresa L. Tyers;
(2016)
‘In the Merry Month of May’: Instructions for Ensuring Fertility in MS British Library, Lansdowne 380
(/isis/citation/CBB552800787/)
Thesis
Evans, J C;
Evans, C. J.;
(cited 2010)
Procreation, Pleasure and Provokers of Lust in Early Modern England, 1550--1780
(/isis/citation/CBB001567232/)
Article
Toulalan, Sarah;
(2014)
“To[o] much eating stifles the child”: Fat Bodies and Reproduction in Early Modern England
(/isis/citation/CBB001202087/)
Book
Katherine Paugh;
(2017)
The Politics of Reproduction: Race, Medicine, and Fertility in the Age of Abolition
(/isis/citation/CBB922169542/)
Article
Daphna Oren-Magidor;
(2016)
Literate Laywomen, Male Medical Practitioners and the Treatment of Fertility Problems in Early Modern England
(/isis/citation/CBB409306142/)
Article
Anna Sofie Bach;
Charlotte Kroløkke;
(2020)
Hope and Happy Futurity in the Cryotank: Biomedical Imaginaries of Ovarian Tissue Freezing
(/isis/citation/CBB249301914/)
Book
Olivia Weisser;
(2015)
Ill Composed: Sickness, Gender, and Belief in Early Modern England
(/isis/citation/CBB692734827/)
Article
Daphna Oren-Magidor;
Catherine Rider;
(2016)
Introduction: Infertility in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine
(/isis/citation/CBB050245136/)
Article
Flemming, Rebecca;
(2013)
The Invention of Infertility in the Classical Greek World: Medicine, Divinity, and Gender
(/isis/citation/CBB001214260/)
Article
Petroianu, Georg A.;
(2015)
Treatment of Hiccup by Vagal Maneuvers
(/isis/citation/CBB001551872/)
Article
Carmody, John;
(2013)
Medical History: Feeling No Pain
(/isis/citation/CBB001320435/)
Article
Caballero-Navas, Carmen;
(2014)
She Will Give Birth Immediately. Pregnancy and Childbirth in Medieval Hebrew Medical Texts Produced in the Mediterranean West
(/isis/citation/CBB001500009/)
Article
Jennifer Evans;
(2016)
‘They are called Imperfect men’: Male Infertility and Sexual Health in Early Modern England
(/isis/citation/CBB389303575/)
Article
Catherine Rider;
(2016)
Men and Infertility in Late Medieval English Medicine
(/isis/citation/CBB987649552/)
Book
Woliver, Laura R.;
(2002)
The Political Geographies of Pregnancy
(/isis/citation/CBB000302256/)
Article
Jesse Olszynko-Gryn;
Patrick Ellis;
(2017)
‘A Machine for Recreating Life’: An Introduction to Reproduction on Film
(/isis/citation/CBB170428762/)
Article
Patrick Ellis;
(2017)
A Cinema for the Unborn: Moving Pictures, Mental pictures and Electra Sparks's New Thought Film Theory
(/isis/citation/CBB746930703/)
Article
Nancy Tomes;
(2021)
“Not Just for Doctors Anymore”: How the Merck Manual Became a Consumer Health “Bible”
(/isis/citation/CBB971333465/)
Be the first to comment!