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Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers

Deirdre English and Barbara Ehrenreich
Edition: pam
ISBN: 9780912670133
Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
Release Date: 2009-09-06
ITEM OVERVIEW
"Women have always been healers. They were the unlicensed doctors and anatomists of western history. They were abortionists, nurses and counselors. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were midwives, travelling from home to home and village to village. For centuries women were doctors without degrees, barred from books and lectures, learning from each other, and passing on experience from neighbor to neighbor and mother to daughter. They were called 'wise women' by the people, witches or charlatans by the authorities."

This classic pamphlet explores two important phases in the male takeover of health care: the suppression of witches in medieval Europe and the rise of the male medical profession in the United States. The authors conclude that despite efforts to exclude them, the resurgence of women as healers should be a long-range goal of the women's movement.