Venue: University of Madeira – Rectory Building (Madeira Island, Portugal)
Organized by Intercontinental Cross-Currents Network
and
University of Madeira, Faculty of Arts and Humanities – Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
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Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
“On every hand we hear it acknowledged that in physical health, women of the present day are inferior to those of half a century ago. In form, in freshness and real beauty of countenance, in vigor and sprightliness, in animal spirits and powers of endurance, and in ability to perform duties that require energy and force, no one doubts that women in America are constantly depreciating. […] It is fast spreading among all ranks, and reaching all portions of the land.”
(Rev. Anson Smyth in Dinah Maria Mulock Craik,
A Woman’s Thoughts about Woman, 1858, vii-viii)
Notions of women’s health in the long nineteenth century were part and parcel of transatlantic societies‘ gender politics. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that foundational twentieth-century feminist scholars turned to questions of women’s health in their critique of patriarchal power structures. In the 1970s and 1980s, researchers such as Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, in their so-called “feminist reconstruction of history,” argued that we should study nineteenth-century health discourse in order to make apparent how the social role of women was constructed.
This argument was based on the assumption that changes in social and cultural attitudes are made “evident in the language of health” (7). They believed that models of health and sickness showcased a plurality of notions of womanhood, i.e., they indicated what was considered personal shortcomings in women, what was construed as social problems, appropriate moral behavior, women’s citizenship roles, etc. Scholars started to dissect health concepts and their cultural environment to see what judgements and expectations ideas of health have conveyed
(see Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America; 1986, 6-7).
After a two-decade-long interest in issues of women and health, interest ebbed until more recently when the Covid-19 pandemic starkly highlighted the gendered and racialized norms and prejudices tied to notions of health. This global health crisis generated renewed interest in questions of women and health across many disciplines, including medicine, history, social science, cultural and literary studies, as well as queer and gender studies.
Our interdisciplinary conference contributes to the conversation by focusing on comparative transatlantic perspectives on women and health in the long nineteenth century. We invite scholars and professionals from diverse fields to explore the intricate relationship between health discourses and concepts of womanhood, as well as the experiences and realities that women encountered, engaged in, resisted, or helped create.
We encourage cross-disciplinary studies and comparative transnational perspectives. Thus, the conference will address a broad range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Medical Discourses and Women’s Health in the 19th century: How societal atitudes toward women’s health shaped medical knowledge.
- Women’s Journals and Health Discourse: Popular notions of women and health in periodical literature.
- Maternal Health and Childbirth: Practices, challenges, and changing perceptions.
- Women in Medical Professions: The roles and struggles of women as healers, midwives,and physicians.
- Women’s Mental Health: Diagnoses, treatments, and cultural perceptions of women’s psychological well-being.
- Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights: Contraception, abortion, and the fight for bodily autonomy.
- Women and Infectious Diseases: Gendered impacts of epidemics and public health responses.
- The Intersection of Class, Race, and Women’s Health: Disparities and systemic barriers to care.
- Sexual Morality, Purity, and Public Health Campaigns: The impact of social movements and moral discourses on women’s health.
- Women’s Health in Literature and Art: Representations and critiques in creative works.
- Diet, Exercise, and Women’s Physical Health: Changing norms and practices.
- Philanthropy and Public Health Initiatives Led by Women: Women’s leadership in health and welfare reforms.
- Women’s Autonomy in Healthcare Decision-Making: Personal agency and systemic constraints.
- Women and Disability: Experiences, advocacy, and evolving frameworks.
More information about the conference and details for the registration can be found here: https://crosscurrents.uni-halle.de/2025-conference/