Sex, sickness, and slavery : illness in the antebellum South / Marli F. Weiner ; with Mazie Hough.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weiner, Marli Frances, 1953-

Contributor:

Hough, Mazie.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Diseases--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Diseases.

Diseases--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century--Sources.

Medicine--Practice--Southern States--History--19th century.

Medicine.

Physicians--Southern States--History--19th century.

Physicians.

Human body--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Human body.

Sex differences--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Sex differences.

Slavery--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Slavery.

Race--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Race.

Race--Social aspects.

History.

Slavery--Social aspects.

Sex differences--Social aspects.

Human body--Social aspects.

Medicine--Practice.

Diseases--Social aspects.

Southern States--Race relations--History--19th century.

Southern States.

Race relations.

Southern States--Social conditions--19th century.

Social conditions.

Genre:

Sources.

Physical Description:

xii, 267 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2012]

Summary:

This book examines medical and lay perspectives of the body in the antebellum South. It is particularly concerned with how physicians of the period created rationales for racism, slavery, and female oppression based on medical knowledge and theories at the time. The book relies on a range of sources to understand physicians' thinking and practice, including medical journals and texts, theses and other writings of medical students, and physicians' diaries, daybooks, and letters. It also explores laymen's views, using letters and diaries from whites. Slave narratives and folklore shed light on slave perspectives. Weiner was professor of history at the University of Maine. Hough teaches history and women's studies at the University of Maine. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: The Political Body

Constructing Race

Constructing Sex

Placed Bodies

Ambiguous Bodies

The Examined Body

The Unexamined Body

The Diseased Body

Conclusion: The Body Politic.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780252036996

0252036999

OCLC:

759909880