Women and medicine in Robin Oliveira's My Name is Mary Sutter and Ami Mckay's The Birth House

The period from the beginning of the American Civil War to the end of the First World War is of great importance for the history of medicine and women's place in society. Two young midwives living in this period reveal the male-dominated medical world from their unique perspectives. Mary Sutter, the protagonist of My Name Is Mary Sutter, shows the barriers in women's access to medical education and how to overcome these obstacles step by step as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War. Her desire to be a surgeon, which is against the traditional family and social structure, is either rejected or ridiculed. At the beginning of the 20th century, advancements in the field of gynecology reached even the most remote corners of Canada. In The Birth House, at Scots Bay, the rivalry between traditional methods and the modern approach to medicine is demonstrated through the elderly midwife Ms. B. and Dr. Thomas. The transition from natural methods to modern medicine, together with the doctor's discriminatory perspective against women, which is in line with the historical framework of that period, shapes the mindset of the protagonist, Dora. In the first chapter, the progress and regressions arising from change in both novels are examined within the scope of Raymond Williams' cultural theory of the Residual, Dominant and Emergent. In the second part, the repercussions of restriction of the working areas of midwives, new techniques in childbirth, sexuality and contraception are examined through the association between First Wave Feminism and the history of medicine. This thesis aims to examine women's involvement in medicine in accordance with First Wave Feminism, and to elaborate on this subject through Raymond Williams's cultural theory of the Residual, Dominant and Emergent.