Mothers of Gynecology Movement facts for kids
The Mothers of Gynecology Movement started because people criticized a 19th-century American doctor named J. Marion Sims. He performed experimental surgeries on enslaved Black women. These women could not agree to the surgeries, and they often had them without any pain medicine. Later, in the late 1900s, his work was seen as an example of racism in medicine.
Sims had many patients, but three are well-known: Anarcha Westcott, Lucy, and Betsey. These three women are called the "mothers of gynecology." Their experiences helped modern medicine, even though they suffered greatly.
The Statue Debate
In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio started a group to look at a statue of J. Marion Sims in Central Park. During this time, an essay by J.C. Hallman called "Monumental Error" was published. This essay was about the Sims monument.
The essay came out when New York City was holding public meetings. These meetings were to decide what to do with monuments across the city. Hallman's article helped with a bigger discussion happening all over the country. This discussion was about statues of figures linked to difficult parts of history. The group decided to remove the Sims statue. It was taken down in April 2018.
Honoring the Mothers of Gynecology
In March 2021, an artist named Michelle Browder held an event in Los Angeles. She works to bring attention to unfair treatment of the Black community. She asked people to bring old metal objects. These objects were melted down to create a new monument. This monument would honor the mothers of gynecology.
Sims wrote in his own medical notes that Anarcha was 17 and pregnant. He performed 30 surgeries on her. Lucy took three months to get better after one of his surgeries. Browder told a newspaper, "If you've ever had a Pap smear, you have Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey to thank."
The monument was put up in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 24, 2021. Browder explained that "discarded objects represent how Black women have been treated." She also said it shows "the beauty that's in the broken and the discarded."
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