The Black Women Behind Modern Gynecology

It is a truth universally known that white men have stood at the forefront of history since the dawn of time. They have been rewarded and praised for their accomplishments no matter how small they are (sorry, but an apple falling on your head and calling it gravity is not the flex you think it is). Because of this, they have been able to take advantage of minorities, and people will look the other way in the name of research and knowledge. One such man who has been so graciously benefitted from being a white male is J. Marion Sims, and he has been given the title of “Father of Modern Gynecology.” He received this title at the expense of Black women and continues to be praised for his ‘accomplishments.’ 

J. Marion Sims experimented on many enslaved Black women, and yet we only know the names of three of them Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey. These women were experimented on multiple times; Anarcha went through 30 surgeries, at the least, without anesthesia. Anarcha was only 17-years-old when she went through Sims’ torturous surgeries. Lucy was 18 when Sims decided to perform a surgery that took an hour long in front of other doctors at the time. Sims even mentioned how she screamed out in pain, and he acknowledges that her “agony was extreme.” Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey were not given anesthesia at any point while Sims performed his surgeries. Oddly enough, once he was done practicing on these women, he performed the surgeries on white women with anesthesia, meaning the lack of anesthesia Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey received was a personal choice.

J. Marion Sims has statues of himself across the country to be memorialized as the father of modern gynecology while Anarcha, Lucy, Betsey and the many other Black women Sims experimented on are forgotten. Sims should not be remembered for his accomplishments when he achieved his knowledge through the torture of Black women. His memorialization is at the expense of Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey. They do not get to be remembered or forever be known as the mothers of modern gynecology. They get to be forgotten, just as their slave owners intended. This trend cannot continue. The people who were mistreated in the name of research should be acknowledged as much, if not more, than their abusers. 

It is unfortunate that white men can mistreat those who have been deemed below them in the pursuit of knowledge. Black women have endured centuries of mistreatment and still continue to do so. Even in the medical field, they are not believed when compared to their white counterparts. Black women need to be believed and trusted when it comes to the mistreatment they experience. They tend to be the ones who will stand up for equality amongst gender, sexuality and race, but will be the first ones to be mistreated. For more information on how racial biases still exist in the medical field and the women behind Sims’ grueling surgeries, click here.

• black women
• BlackHistoryMonth
• gynecology
• health
• history