Bøker av Wendy Kline

The pelvic exam. If you've ever had one, you're probably already wincing. It might be considered a routine medical procedure, but for most of us, it is anything from unpleasant to traumatic. In Exposed, noted historian Wendy Kline uncovers the procedure's fascinating--and often disturbing--history. From gynecological research on enslaved women's bodies to nonconsensual practice on anesthetized patients, the pelvic exam as we know it today carries the burden of its sordid past. Its story is one of pain and pleasure, life-saving discoveries and heartbreaking encounters, questionable procedures and triumphant breakthroughs. Drawing on previously unpublished archival sources, along with interviews with patients, providers, and activists, Kline traces key moments and movements in gynecological history, from the surgeons of the nineteenth century to the OB/GYNs of today. This powerful book reminds us that the pelvic exam is has never been "just" a medical procedure, and that we can no longer afford to let the pelvic exam remain unexamined.

Presents the cultural history of eugenics in America that emphasizes the movement's central, continuing interaction with popular notions of gender and morality. This book shows how eugenics could seem a viable solution to problems of moral disorder and sexuality, especially female sexuality, during the first half of the twentieth century.

Throughout the 1970s and '80s, women argued that unless they gained access to information about their own bodies, there would be no equality. This book considers the ways in which ordinary women worked to position the female body at the center of women's liberation.