The origins of American gynecology reflect back to the racism that has been seen within medicine for quite some time. Black women were seen as these “superbodies” that were capable of withstanding all levels of pain. As a result of this belief, black women were abused in different ways and used for experimental and teaching purposes within the gynecology field. Author Deirdre Cooper Owens focused on the history of American gynecology and the racist origins behind the field. Dr. Cooper Owens reflects on the stories of black women who were at times left to die and then used as study subjects by the same doctors who were meant to cure them. At the same time, Dr. Cooper Owens reflects on the connection that slavery and medicine have and emphasizes the idea that black women in many ways can be seen as the founders of gynecology. 

Throughout the book Medical Bondage, Dr. Cooper Owens makes a connection between the racist doctrines within American gynecology and the abuse that black women faced as experimental subjects. For many black women, stepping into a gynecologist’s office was a sentence for death. More specifically, “Slavery and the rise of American gynecology were the vessels that poured both life and death into the black women’s lives” (Cooper Owens, 44). Many of these women were forced to go to these doctors for their own health concerns and yet they would end up being abused and used and as was often seen killed as a result of this abuse. Dr. Cooper Owens also reflects on the difference in treatment between white and black women. The experiments that black women were forced to undergo would eventually be used to treat white women. Although the procedures were the same, white women did not receive the same abusive treatment that black women did. From these various arguments, Dr. Cooper Owens emphasizes on the idea that black women are the real founders of American gynecology. Black women not only contributed through forced participation, but many black women were also nurses and midwives. The trauma that these white doctors inflicted upon black women led to many black women continuing as midwives and nurses as a way to avoid any further abuse from occurring. As I read Medical Bondage, it was clear that gynecology as a field was not founded by white men but rather by the black women who underwent abuse and various experimental procedures. 

Dr. Cooper Owens is an award-winning historian, a popular speaker, and a professor. Dr. Cooper Owens attended two historically black colleges and universities, Bennett College and Clark Atlanta University. After completing her education in these two institutions, Dr. Cooper Ownes went on to earn her Ph.D in history at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Cooper Owens has also taken part in various fellowships throughout the United States. Using her own personal experiences  has led to her realizing that stories are what draw in the attention of the readers. Having the historical background that she does, Dr. Cooper Owens is working to make history accessible to all people as well as inspiring to all. 

In order to create this monograph, Dr. Cooper Owens uses a variety of sources to discuss the role that black women had throughout the history of American gynecology. One source that Dr. Cooper Owens focuses on the stories of the black women who were forced to take part in these experimental procedures. One case that Dr. Cooper Brown’s discussed, the Julia Brown’s case,  reflects on the shift in value that the lives of black women had to the white doctors. Dr. Cooper Owens states that this case “…illuminates how southern white men developed and deployed medical and pharmaceutical methods that revealed how the value of black people’s lives shifted back and forth like measurements on a sliding scale” (Cooper Owens, 42). This specific example allows readers to understand how the value of black women depended on how valuable their bodies were for the purpose of advancing American gynecological practices. Dr. Cooper Owens also used different records and documents that reflect on this idea that enslaved people, and in particular, enslaved women were seen as nothing but experimental subjects and sources of income. The use of these various sources allow readers to visualize the abuse and disrespect that black women faced in order to have gynecology where it is today. 

The organization of the book made it easy to read along and this would have to be one of the strengths of the book. The actual book is divided into five chapters, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of American gynecology. The first chapter focuses on the birth of American gynecology and on the father of gynecology, James Marion Sims. Dr. Cooper Owens uses this section to expand upon the procedures that were conducted by these white doctors at the time. It is during this chapter that Dr. Cooper Owens begins to expand on how doctors “… used stark medical terminology that reduced black women’s reproductive organs and bodies to mere “physical specimen” ” (Cooper Owens, 21). Chapter two focuses on these procedures but shifts the focus away from the doctors and the history of American gynecology overall and emphasizes on the experiences of black women during this time. In this chapter, the stories of various black women were told and the abuse and neglect that they received both from their owners and from their doctors. With the example of the State of Missouri v. Celia, Dr. Cooper Owens discusses how Celia, although she was raped by her owner, she was still sentenced to death for defending herself and killing her abuser. Celia was pregnant at the time and although her life was not spared, the life of the baby was (Cooper Owens, 43). This specific chapter highlights the importance that was placed on the unborn child, and the lack of care that was given to enslaved women during this time. Chapter three focuses on the connections between sex, slavery, and  medicine. Many of these black women were abused whether it was by their owners or their doctors. This same abuse is what led to many of these women ending up pregnant or developing certain health concerns that required them to be taken to a doctor. Chapter four expands on this topic of abuse and discusses the experiences of Irish women immigrants and the similarities with those of black women. The example of Mary Donovan reflects the commonalities between the experiences of Irish women and black women in relation to how they were treated by doctors. Donovan was described as “violent, dumb, and defective, but her body provided a pathway for doctors to learn more…” (Cooper Owens, 104). Similar to the experiences of black women, Irish women were also abused by white doctors and these white doctors also exposed the private medical matters of these women to public medical journals. Chapter five summarizes the main points made in the previous chapters as well as discusses the idea of a medical “superbody.” Although this topic was mentioned in previous chapters, Dr. Cooper Owens goes into detail on this topic as well as on the medical gaze and how these topics both added to the trauma that black women in particular endured during the beginning stages of American gynecology. 

Dr. Cooper Owens reflects on the experiences of Irish women, but this is a topic that is not as focused on throughout the monograph. The main focus of this book is on the experiences of black women as experimental subjects for white doctors, but it would be valuable to learn more on the experiences of Irish women. Seeing that this monograph does focus primarily on black women, adding the relationship between American gynecology and Irish women would take away from the main argument being made. Regardless of this, it is important to know the stories of these women as well. Rather than including a chapter towards the end on Irish women, it would be helpful to instead have the stories of Irish women in connection to American gynecology discussed throughout the book similar to the structure used to give the stories of black women. 

Medical Bondage is a book that I would say all people should read. It emphasizes the stories of black women and their role in the history of American gynecology. Dr. Cooper Owens also gives a voice to these black women by sharing their stories. During the time in which these events were occuring, these black women were not given a platform or rights to defend themselves. As a result of this, people are unaware of the actual history of American gynecology and the racist ideologies that make up the field. This monograph exposes the racism of gynecology while providing a voice for the Irish and black women who were silenced and used for experimental purposes. Ultimately, Dr. Cooper Owens’ writing reminds society of the vital role that Irish and black women played in making American gynecology what it is known to be today. 

Works Cited:

Owens, Deirdre Cooper. Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology. University of Georgia Press, 2017. 

“Bio.” Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens. Accessed December 16, 2022. https://www.deirdrecooperowens.com/bio.