Skip to content

The University of Iowa Libraries

Skip to content
Go to
InfoHawk+
University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries

News from the Archives

Feb 24 2023

Kick Off Women’s History Month with the Iowa Women’s Archives

Posted on February 24, 2023February 24, 2023 by Kate Orazem

The Iowa Women’s Archives (IWA) will kick off Women’s History Month with an event at the Iowa City Public Library! The Purpose of the Pelvic: A Historical Analysis will bring Dr. Wendy Kline, the Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine at Purdue University, to discuss the history of the pelvic exam and the insights that history offers into questions of gender, medicine, and power.

Flyer for The Purpose of the Pelvic: A Historical Analysis talk by Wendy Kline at the Iowa City Public Library on March 24, 2023 from 4:30 to 6 pm

The Purpose of the Pelvic: A Historical Analysis

Where: Iowa City Public Library, meeting room A OR Iowa City Public Library YouTube livestream

When: March 24, 2022, 4:30 – 6pm

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires as reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Iowa Women’s Archives in advance: 319-335-5068. 


Ever since the introduction of the pelvic exam as a gynecological procedure in the late 19th century, consumers and doctors have struggled to define the boundaries between preventive health and sexual impropriety.  In the early twentieth century, for example, cancer awareness programs were stymied by the failure of the press to print particular words deemed “inappropriate,” such as “uterus, cervix, discharge, bloody, or menses.” And despite the emergence of second wave feminism in the 1970s, discomfort around discussing female sex organs remains a major problem, even leading to a congresswoman getting banned from speaking on the House floor after using the term “vagina” in 2012. This shaming of women’s reproductive anatomy takes a toll on all women, who have picked up the cue that they, too, should remain silent about their bodies. Researchers have documented the impact this silencing has had on women’s care, including a lack of basic anatomical knowledge and the importance of routine gynecological care. In a 2017 U.S. study, for example, only about half of women surveyed about cervical cancer screening felt they knew the purpose of the routine pelvic exam.

Speculum, Box 63, Emma Goldman Clinic (Iowa City) records, Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Speculum, Box 63, Emma Goldman Clinic (Iowa City) records, Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

This talk suggests that the pelvic exam is more than just a medical procedure; it is a window into a deeper, more meaningful set of questions about gender, medicine, and power.  From gynecological research on enslaved women’s bodies to practice on anesthetized patients, the pelvic exam as we know it today carries the burden of its history. By looking through that window, we can begin to understand why the pelvic exam remains both mysterious and contentious. 

 

Wendy Kline, PhD, Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine at Purdue University, is internationally recognized for her scholarship in the history of medicine, history of women’s health and the history of childbirth. She is the author of three major books: Coming Home: How Midwives Changed Birth (Oxford University Press, 2019); Bodies of Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women’s Health in the Second Wave (U. of Chicago Press 2010); and Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom (U. of California Press, 2001). Her current book project, Exposed: A History of the Pelvic Exam, is under contract with Polity Press.  She has appeared in the Netflix documentary, Sex, Explained, as well as the PBS documentary, The Eugenics Crusade, and will appear in the Showtime documentary, Pharma, in 2023. Her research has been funded by major fellowships, including a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar fellowship, a British Academy Fellowship, and a Huntington Fellowship. Kline is also a professional violinist. You can learn more about her at www.wendykline.com.

Posted in Uncategorized

Post navigation

Enterprising Women: Three Profiles from the Fellows Family papers

Categories

  • 20th Anniversary
  • 25th Anniversary
  • African American Women in Iowa
  • Events
  • Exhibits
  • From the collections
  • In the news
  • IWA History
  • IWA Update
  • Jewish Women in Iowa
  • Kerber Travel Grant
  • Mujeres Latinas
  • People
  • Scholarship
  • Uncategorized
  • Women's History Month
  • Women's Sports

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

More links

  • IWA news via email
  • More UI Librariea news

  • Donate to the IWA
  • Like us on Facebook
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Zoia by Automattic.
University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries
  • Contact the Libraries
  • Library locations & hours
  • News & Events
  • Help using the Libraries
  • Assistance for people with disabilities
  • Our diversity statement
  • Thank a Librarian
  • Web site/page feedback OR general suggestions
  • UI Libraries other links UI Libraries in the Internet Archive Use and reuse of UI Libraries web content - Creative Commons Staff SharePoint (authentication required)
  • UI Libraries on social media UI Libraries on Instagram UI Libraries on Facebook UI Libraries on Twitter UI Libraries on Pinterest UI Libraries on Tumblr UI Libraries on YouTube UI Libraries on Flickr UI Libraries blogs
  • 100 Main Library (LIB)
  • 125 West Washington St.
  • Iowa City, IA 52242-1420
  • 319-335-5299 (Service Desk)
  • ©2019 The University of Iowa
  • Give a gift to the Libraries!