Preview
  • Medical Bondage

  • Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology
  • By: Deirdre Cooper Owens
  • Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (179 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Medical Bondage

By: Deirdre Cooper Owens
Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.75

Buy for $13.75

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The accomplishments of pioneering doctors such as John Peter Mettauer, James Marion Sims, and Nathan Bozeman are well documented. It is also no secret that these 19th-century gynecologists performed experimental caesarean sections, ovariotomies, and obstetric fistula repairs primarily on poor and powerless women. Medical Bondage breaks new ground by exploring how and why physicians denied these women their full humanity yet valued them as "medical superbodies" highly suited for medical experimentation.

In Medical Bondage, Cooper Owens examines a wide range of scientific literature and less formal communications in which gynecologists created and disseminated medical fictions about their patients, such as their belief that black enslaved women could withstand pain better than white "ladies". Even as they were advancing medicine, these doctors were legitimizing, for decades to come, groundless theories related to whiteness and blackness, men and women, and the inferiority of other races or nationalities.

Medical Bondage moves between southern plantations and northern urban centers to reveal how 19th-century American ideas about race, health, and status influenced doctor-patient relationships in sites of healing like slave cabins, medical colleges, and hospitals.

©2017 the University of Georgia Press (P)2019 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Medical Bondage

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    127
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    99
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    119
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

something everyone should know re medical history

Well researched book about slavery and immigrants' contribution to gynecological history. Everyone should know this information.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

This book is excellent and gives us a thorough historical background for people who work in reproductive fields to understand the origination’s and understandings of the medical information that we use daily to treat patients.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very educational and eye opening

This is a very moving book, especially being a female gynecologist.
What the women subjects endured, without the ability to truly consent, has allowed the progression of gynecology to it’s current level. They deserve our deepest gratitude and respect.
While progress has been made in the respect for women’s autonomy, we still have far to go in terms of women being taken seriously in the medical profession for issues related to pelvic pain.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing touching and sobering book!

The narrator made it touching and authentic. An amazing documentary on the beginning of modern gynecology in the US through exploitation and abuse of the enslaved African American women- a story that must be heard!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Are you a birth worker, if so, this is a MUST read!

Excellent. Mind blowing. This is a historically accurate account of how American gynecology was built. If you work in women’s health, this is a must read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gut-wrenching and so important

It's not exactly an easy listen, but it's also incredibly gratifying to hear this story told insistently with the focus on the racialized women, both Black and Irish, who were not also oppressed and suffering but also survivors. It's an incredibly complicated and nuanced story, and the huge gut-punch of the afterword really brings it home to all of us living in the 21st century.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An Important Read

American Gynecology was built from the blood, sweat, and tears of enslaved black women. This books takes you on a historical journey through black women's pain. It is real. It is raw, and it is detailed. Hearing about the medical subjugation these women had to endure is eye opening. Hearing about the "educated guesses" male doctors made at the expense of enslaved black women, paired with the lack of recognition that many women didn't receive for their contributions is enraging.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative and makes me furious

The origins of gynecology are based on slavery, rape and obstetrical violence towards black, Irish and other unfortunate women. I’m glad to be headed towards becoming a female gynecologist to help stop these atrocities!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Important Knowledge

This book was excellent. Dr. Cooper Owens provides history on this important topic, provides context and relevance for today, and also weaves in narratives to remind readers of the humanity.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sadly, very little has changed.

I am a Registered Nurse with 25 years of experience. Sadly, I have witnessed some of the atrocities inflicted upon black / brown women during the Antebellum Era during the course of my career. I enjoyed this book for the knowledge and truths told. It broke my heart though, to see that very little has changed from the 1800 to 2020.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful