This conference in the framework of Matrimony Days will show how doctors considered the female gender in Rouen in the nineteenth century, first of all through improvements in gynecology, but also their work on female physiology. It will focus on the research of doctors working on the interactions between female physiology and society, ranging from the idea of birth control to monitoring the impact of women’s work on fertility.
By Bénédicte PercheronPhD in contemporary history, specializing in the history of science and heritage studies. Author of a thesis entitled Natural sciences in Rouen in the 19th century: museology, popularization and scientific networks (1789 – 1923), published in 2017 by Matériologiques. She is an associate researcher of the History Research Group of the University of Rouen. She has, among other things, worked on gender history, particularly on naturalistic women, or on women and medicine.