Women's health and welfare
Discourses on women’s health
Health ‘needs’ of women
- Main focus was on reproduction
‘pelvic approach’
assessments based on middle-class criteria
reductionist approach to women’s biology
cult of motherhood and family life throughout society
women’s life cycle – 3 most important stages
puberty, maternity, menopause
Discourses produced by
- male and female medical practitioners
- social investigators (eg. voluntary charity workers, male and female)
- central and local government officials
- feminists (eg. Fabian Women’s Group, Women’s Co-operative Guild)
Medical theories about women’s health
- position of medical practitioners
- problematic theories about women’s health
- many explanations
- expectations of ‘invalidism’
- backlash against increasing activity, education and employment of women?
Social investigations
- types of data
- problems
State intervention in the welfare of the family
- surveillance of working-class mothers
- fears of ‘race’ inferiority
- whose health and welfare was more important – mothers or male children?