March 13, 2023: Mallory Szymanski, Assistant Professor of History, Alfred University-Topic: Discerning Doctors from Quacks: the art, science, and social practice of men’s sexual health in late-nineteenth century United States
Men in the late-nineteenth century found themselves exhausted by the increasing demands of round-the-clock factory work and a fast-paced urbanizing society. New categories of ‘nervous disease’ emerged to reckon with range of symptoms men experienced, including anxiety, fatigue, indigestion, sexual debility, and many more. Panicked that they were irreparably damaged, and unsure about how to admit it, men often suffered in silence rather than see a doctor. Meanwhile, a vibrant marketplace of patent medicines and specialists promised to cure even the most embarrassing symptoms and to restore a man’s vigor. Sick men found it difficult to discern the so-called quacks from the formally trained physicians, or to relate to highly educated elites inside intimidating clinics. Reminiscent of the confusion caused by contradictory media messaging in the Covid-19 pandemic, this talk addresses the question about men in the late-19th century: which sources provide accurate medical information, and how does one decide?
This talk explores two unexpected places men could find such information: evening lectures at the local YMCA and popular novels by neurologist S. Weir Mitchell. Focused on engendering trust, these sources encouraged men to see doctors as confidants, confessors, and friends.
Mallory Szymanski is an assistant professor of history at Alfred University. She is a gender historian who writes about medicine and culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is an assistant producer for the podcast Sexing Historyand co-editor at Clio and the Contemporary.
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