Tag: women

Why Did Women Doctors Fade Into Oblivion in the Middle Ages?
Most of the “witches” persecuted in Europe from the 15th century onwards were in fact midwives and healers, heirs to a long tradition of secular medical practice that was more pragmatic than theoretical.
But to tell the story of these experts (before they were totally evicted), researchers face several obstacles: information is scarce and disparate, fragmented into many very different sources; biographical sources, for example, but also economic, judicial, and administrative sources. Sometimes only first names or surnames remain, such as those of women inscribed in the Ars Medicina of Florence (a medical treatise), or that of the apothecary nun Giovanna Ginori, recorded in the tax registers of the pharmacy where she worked during the 1560s.
Nevertheless, this research allows us to better understand how women were gradually excluded from medicine, its practice and studies, by an institutional and hierarchical system totally dominated by men.
Schola Medica Salernitana
We must first mention the most famous medical school active at the beginning of the Middle Ages, that of Salerno, the Scola Salernitana. It counted among its ranks several women physicians: Trota (or Trotula), a pioneer in gynecology and surgery, Costanza Calenda, Abella di Castellomata, Francesca di Romano, Toppi Salernitana, Rebecca Guarna and Mercuriade, who are fairly well known, as well as those called the mulieres salernitanae.
Unlike the women doctors of the School, the mulieres worked at a more empirical level. Their remedies were examined by the School’s doctors, who decided whether or not to accept them, as evidenced by Giovanni Plateario‘s manual Practica Brevis and Bernard de Gordon‘s writings. In Salerno, Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars crossed paths; different cultures coexisted, making the School an exceptional place, a breeding ground for scientific encounters and influences.
Women Accused of Practicing Illegally
However, from 1220 onwards, the situation became complicated because no one could practice medicine without being a graduate of the University of Paris or without having obtained the agreement of the doctors and the chancellor of the University, under pain of excommunication. Let us cite the example of Jacoba Felicie de Alemannia. According to a document produced by the University of Paris in 1322, she treated her patients without “really” knowing medicine, that is, without having received university education, and was liable to excommunication; consequently, she had to pay a fine.
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The records of the dispute describe the course of a medical examination given by this woman: we learn that she visually analyzed urine, took pulses, palpated the patient’s limbs, and that she treated men. This is one of the rare testimonies that mentions the fact that women also treated men.
The trial of the young doctor took place during a time when those who were not university graduates were being denounced and condemned. Before her, Clarice of Rouen had been excommunicated for practicing medicine for the same reason – treating men – while other women skilled in medicine were again condemned in 1322: Jeanne the lay sister of Saint-Médicis, Marguerite of Ypres, and the Jewish woman Belota.
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In 1330, the rabbis of Paris were also accused of illegally practicing the art of medicine, as well as some other “healers” who passed themselves off as experts without being so (according to the authorities): they were taxed as impostors, even if they were competent. In 1325, Pope John XXII, opportunely solicited by the professors of the University of Paris after the Clarice affair, addressed Bishop Stephen of Paris, ordering him to forbid those ignorant of medicine and midwives from practicing medicine in Paris and the surrounding area, insisting that these women practiced sorcery.
The Formalization of Studies
The progressive prohibition of the practice of medicine for the female gender took place parallel to the formalization of the canon of studies, the beginning of meticulous control by teaching hierarchies and corporations, increasingly marginalizing women doctors.
However, they continued to exist and practice — among the Italians, we know of the Florentines Monna Neccia, mentioned in a tax register, the Estimo of 1359, Monna Iacopa, who treated plague victims in 1374, the ten women registered with the corporation of doctors in Florence — the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali — between 1320 and 1444, or the Siennese Agnese and Mita, paid by the City for their services in 1390, for example.
However, practicing medicine became very risky for them, with suspicions of witchcraft becoming increasingly heavy.
Unfortunately, official sources lack data on women doctors, as they practiced in a society where only men accessed the highest positions.
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Nevertheless, the historical framework that can be reconstructed shows the existence not only of women who were experts and practiced the art of medicine, but also of women doctors who studied, often unofficially — most were educated by their father, brother or husband.
Women Doctors in Literary Sources
Non-institutional sources, such as literary texts, are very precious. For example, Boccaccio mentions a woman doctor in the Decameron. The narrator, Dioneo, speaks of a certain Giletta di Nerbona, an intelligent woman doctor who managed to marry the man she loved — Beltramo da Rossiglione — as a reward for having cured the King of France of a chest fistula. Boccaccio has Giletta, who perceives well the sovereign’s lack of confidence in her, as a woman and young woman, say:
I remind you that I am not a doctor thanks to my science, but with the help of God and thanks to the science of Master Gerardo Nerbonese, who was my father and a famous doctor in his lifetime.
Boccaccio thus presents us with a woman expert in medicine in a simple and natural way: perhaps this is a sign that he was referring to situations more common and known to his readership than is generally believed. What Giletta says reflects a reality of the time for women who practiced medicine: what she knows, she learned from her father.
There is particularly a lot of data concerning Jewish women doctors, active particularly in southern Italy and Sicily, who learned the medical art in their families.
The University of Paris played a very important role in the historical process of standardization and institutionalization of the medical profession. In her article “Women and Health Practices in the Register of Pleadings of the Parliament of Paris, 1364-1427,” Geneviève Dumas clearly showed the importance of Parisian judicial sources from the 14th and 15th centuries, because they contain the memory of women who were condemned for illegally practicing medicine or surgery. Dumas published two trials: the one conducted against Perette la Pétone, a surgeon, and against Jeanne Pouquelin, a barber (barbers were also authorized to perform certain surgical acts).
As the teaching of medicine at the University of Paris became the only valid training in Europe and the School of Salerno lost influence, women were gradually excluded from these professions.
The progressive disappearance of women doctors is to be related to ecclesiastical prohibitions, but also to the gradual professionalization of medicine and the creation of increasingly strict institutions such as Universities, Arts and Guilds, founded and controlled by men.
In Europe, it would take until the mid-19th century for the first graduated women doctors to be able to practice, not without facing sharp criticism.
What does science owe to Marian Diamond, the woman who dissected Einstein’s brain?
August 1, 2024
Beguines: Free Women of the Middle Ages
The Beguines materialized as a devout and communal movement within the confines of the Low Countries, encompassing contemporary realms of Belgium, the Netherlands, and portions of France and Germany, throughout the epoch of the Middle Ages. The name “Beguine” initially denoted females inhabiting semi-monastic enclaves, wholly dedicating their existence to supplication, altruism, and benevolent endeavors benefiting their localities. The movement later expanded to include men as well, who were known as “Beghards.”
Key Takeaways: Beguines
- During medieval times in Europe, there existed a religious movement known as the Beguines. These were ordinary women who desired to lead lives of devotion, prayer, and service, all without committing to formal religious vows.
- Distinct from official monastic orders or established religious bodies, the Beguines enjoyed a level of autonomy. This freedom allowed them to pursue their spiritual journeys while playing an active role in society.
Half-Religious, Half-Secular Communities
Print of a Beguine in Des dodes dantz of Matthäus Brandis, Lübeck 1489.
This community, renegade for its time, was born at the end of the 12th century. Within the feudal tapestry of society, women found themselves ensnared beneath the dominion of patriarchal rule, confronted with a binary juncture: matrimonial union or embracement of the ecclesiastical fold.
Nonetheless, the reverberations of the Crusades cast men afar, while conventual sanctuaries stood in scant supply, necessitating a dowry as an entry fee. What fate, then, awaited these women sentenced to a life of chastity? Unity beckoned as the answer! Thus unfurled the beguinages—a hybrid confluence of spiritual devotion and worldly existence.
A charter of 1065 mentioned the existence of an institution similar to the Beguinage in Vilvoorde (Belgium). In the annals of history, the first beguinage arose in Liège in the year 1173, and a second soon after in Oignies (Pas-de-Calais), both revolving around the devout Marie of Oignies.
The term “beguines,” shrouded in etymological enigma, congregated around the ethos of evangelical poverty akin to the Mendicant Orders, which concurrently thrived in a pious Europe.
Yet, their commitment refrained from formal vows, liberating them to practice their faith in an unparalleled manner, emancipated from constraints. As evangelists, they disseminated their creed, embarking on the translation of the Scriptures and other divine manuscripts into vernacular French, imparting wisdom through their pedagogical endeavors.
Nearly a Million Beguines in Europe in the Early 14th Century
Brussels Beguines.
During the subsequent century, this movement expanded its influence across Europe. Letters penned by Pope John XXII in 1321 revealed a remarkable presence of 200,000 beguines residing solely in Western Germany.
At the zenith of their prominence in the early 14th century, approximately one million Beguines’ voices echoed throughout the continent. In France, upon his return from the crusades in 1264, Saint Louis embraced them under his protective wing, gifting them parcels of land nestled in the heart of Paris.
This gesture emancipated them from feudal constraints and empowered them to flourish beyond the bounds of subjugation. The grand beguinage of Paris flourished into a sanctuary, where the noise of male yielded to the resilience of steadfast women—a haven not of confinement, but of empowerment.
Neither Subjected to Male Authority nor to That of the Church
Saint Elisabeth Beguinage of Kortrijk (Belgium): former house of the mother superior, now the Beguinage museum. Image: Paul Hermans.
Within the confines of these walls, the beguines, free in their exploration of the urban expanse, resided in self-governance. While diligently enacting Christian benevolence, they were also vested with the prerogative to engage in labor.
On occasion, they instituted infirmaries and transition into the roles of caregivers, frequently inaugurating diminutive ateliers dedicated to the crafts of pottery, weaving, textiles, and the art of candle making.
These communal enclaves appointed a “grand dame” who presided over the beguinage for a span of several years, as determinations coalesced during expansive convocations reminiscent of plenary assemblies. This marked an exceptional manifestation of democratic custom during that epoch.
These women attained a state of near-complete autonomy ensconced within the core of the Medieval era. They remained unburdened by marital bonds and unaffected by male dominion or ecclesiastical authority.
Their endeavors encompassed gainful employment, astute management of possessions, and the ability to bequeath these endowments to their fellow beguines. This was a freedom that women had lost for a very long time. Long before these concepts became trendy, the beguines embodied sisterhood and solidarity.
Changing View Under Pressure From the Church
Interior of a convent in the 19th century, Turnhout Beguinage Museum, Belgium. Image: Vitaly Volkov.
As substantiation of their assertion, certain prominent figures within the movement exhibited no reluctance in taking up the quill, an infrequent occurrence for women during that era. Inspired and often mystical, grappling with metaphysical questions, they even dared to write in vernacular languages—a departure from recognized Latin.
Predictably, these unconstrained women unsettled many establishments. Particularly the ecclesiastical establishment, which, subsequent to an initial consent, curtailed their emancipatory endeavors.
Their piety lived apart from any ecclesiastical authority, as well as their ideal of poverty, made them suspicious. Apprehensions arose that they might lead astray the monks, with whom they frequently partook in prayers, from the righteous path and their vow of chastity.
In the year 1244, the Archbishop of Mainz mandated a regulation upon beguinages, stipulating the exclusion of individuals below the age of 40, ostensibly to “forestall the misemployment of liberty by younger beguines.”
Certain individuals paid the price for their self-reliance with their lives. Instituted in 1231, the Inquisition consigned notable personalities to the pyre, including Lutgarde of Treves in 1231, and Marguerite Porete in 1310. In the subsequent year, the Council of Vienne classified the beguine movement as heretical.
The impetus suffered a bust; numerous communities found themselves compelled to shutter their homes and forfeit their possessions. In Paris, the royal beguinage ceased operations in November of 1317.
It would subsequently reemerge with markedly stringent regulations before succumbing to disintegration circa 1470. Universally, these autonomous collectives metamorphosed into secluded enclaves governed by stringent directives or vanished altogether.
Notable Beguines
- Agnes Blannbekin (Around 1250 – d. 1315)
- Marguerite Porete (Around 13th century – d. 1310)
- Colette of Corbie (1381 – d. 1447)
- Juliana of Liège (1193 – d. 1258)
- Margareta of Magdeburg (1237 – d. 1270)
- Mechthild of Magdeburg (Around 1207 – d. 1282/1297)
- Ida of Nivelles (1190 – d. 1237)
- Marie of Oignies (Around 1177 – d. 1213)
- Maria van Oosterwijck (Around 1470 – d. 1547)
- Gertrud of Ortenberg (Between 1275 and 1285 – d. 1335)
- Marcella Pattyn (1920 – d. 2013)
- Marguerite Porete (Around 1250/1260 – d. 1310)
- Christina of Stommeln (1242 – d. 1312)
Marcella Pattyn: The Last Beguine Died in 2013
Marcella Pattyn, the last beguine.
Only the beguine residents of the Netherlands and Belgium survived the persecution thanks to two papal decrees. The initial one, issued by John XXII in 1319, safeguarded those in the Brabant province, while the second, granted by Clement VI in 1343, extended protection to those in Holland.
Their survival was secured through a willingness to distance themselves from certain radical ideals and embrace a closer alignment with the Church. This shift marked a farewell to their previous autonomy as the beguines realigned themselves.
As the 19th century drew to a close, Belgium still counted 600 of these women among its ranks. However, the last beguine bid farewell to the world a century later, precisely on April 14, 2013, in Kortrijk. With her passing, the curtain fell on the era of these pioneering religious women, who defied conventions well ahead of their time.
August 15, 2023
Bertha Benz: The Woman Who Revolutionized Transportation
She fixed the car with a hairpin and a garter and got gas from pharmacies. Bertha Benz, Karl Benz’s wife, drove the first cross-country car trip with their newly developed automobile in 1888. It was quite the ordeal, what with the nighttime fog and everything. Also, there was the risk of law enforcement, for the simple reason that what Bertha Benz was doing was dangerous and strictly illegal.
When writing his memoirs in the autumn of 1885, Karl Benz was already certain that his motor vehicle was more than just an abstract concept with no real-world significance. The “Satan’s vehicle,” as its detractors dubbed it, traveled for kilometers with ease at speeds of up to 12.5 miles (20 km) per hour. To protect his idea, Benz filed for a patent. The patent was received by him on January 29, 1886.
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen Number 3 of 1886, used by Bertha Benz for the highly publicized first long distance road trip, 106 km (66 mi), by automobile. Image: Wikimedia.
The 2.5-horsepower @ 500 rpm engine of the Model III.
Almost overnight, the “horseless carriage” gained widespread attention. There was little question that this motorized velocipede would quickly amass a large fan base. However, the detractors’ opinions were more widely heard. They called the gasoline automobile a joke and insisted that the road should be reserved for horses.
There were just no takers for the three-wheeled motor vehicle. The expected growth in the economy never happened. At this point, Karl Benz was ready to throw in the towel for good: “Now I realized that I was at the bottom, at the very bottom, and had to knock like a beggar at the doors of humanity and its culture.”
Bertha Benz, his wife, had had enough of waiting around. She was confident in the future of the “self-propelled vehicle” and set out to show its viability to everyone, even her cynical husband. But he was unaware of Bertha’s intentions. He was too timid to take such a risk, and there was no way Karl would have approved it. Early in the morning of August 1, 1888, Bertha and her two boys, Richard and Eugen, together with the automobile, vanished.
Time to leave
Bertha Benz in 1870.
Bertha Benz, then 39 years old, became the first person to drive an automobile for a long distance on August 5, 1888, when she and her sons Richard, then 13, and Eugen, then 15, traveled from Mannheim to Pforzheim in a Model III without informing her husband or obtaining permission from the authorities.
They had quietly left on the very first cross-country car journey in the history of the automobile. An unexpected window of opportunity had presented itself. Sister Bertha Benz of Pforzheim, Germany, had just given birth. Bertha Benz was keen on paying her a visit. When you could just get in your self-propelled car and head on the road, there was no use in taking the train. Immediately, her boys set off on the reckless journey that would make Bertha Benz famous. As she later reflected on her life, “I was probably the first woman driver in the world.”
When they finally got the vehicle onto the road at night, they still had around 60 miles (100 km) to go. The beginning was rocky. The automobile wouldn’t start until the third try. Sighing with relief, the trio settled into the driver’s seat and sped out into the semidarkness, giddy with anticipation. That was the furthest distance any automobile had ever traveled in the history of cars. It was possible that they just wouldn’t make the 66-mile (106-km) trip. The car was not expected to last on such a long-distance trip.
Bertha Benz Memorial Route Monument (Image: Travelingboy)
Also, there was the risk of law enforcement being able to prevent them since what they were undertaking was illegal. The authorities had maintained a close eye on Karl Benz to ensure that he adhered to the terms of his driving permits and only tested his motorcars on designated roads and at certain hours.
The vehicle was restricted from leaving the city limits of Mannheim. For good reason too, since many incidents might have been avoided if the horses hadn’t been so afraid of this clattering, smelling monster of a car. The factory gate was guarded 24 hours a day by the police to prevent any unauthorized exits.
Prior to this landmark journey, motorized drives were often trial runs of a few miles that ended back where they started. This adventurous journey, taken in one direction over wagon tracks, spanned a total distance of around 106 kilometers (66 mi).
The world’s first gas station
At 1888, Bertha Benz and her sons Eugen and Richard were driving through Germany from Mannheim to Pforzheim when they stopped in Wiesloch to refuel the car at the pharmacy. (Image: Mercedes-Benz Group Media)
After just a short distance, though, the first difficulties began to surface. White clouds of steam were billowing out of the copper water tank above the cylinder. There was an immediate demand for cooling water. Bertha Benz and her boys located a well and refilled their water supplies. Then, not far from Wiesloch, they had emptied the gas tank.
Apparently, Karl Benz hadn’t realized how enduring his car would be. The residents of Wiesloch circled the car out of curiosity. One kid approached Bertha Benz and said, “Are you part of the vanguard of a circus?” A greengrocer cried out, “Holy sandbag!” “There’s a woman above!” One of them asked if they had lost their horses.
Despite all the comments, mom and the boys kept their cool. They were perplexed at the empty tank. Then they came up with a fantastic plan. The car’s fuel, Ligroin, was also offered as a cleaning product in drugstores. As a result, they pushed the vehicle to the Wiesloch drugstore. The proprietor was taken aback, but he sold the adventurers all of his Ligroin nevertheless, making him the world’s first gas station attendant.
Mother and sons, taking turns driving, traveled several miles between water sources and drugstores. And every time they tried to use it, they had problems with the technical aspects. However, every issue had been resolved. The automobile stopped working shortly after Weingarten due to a congested fuel supply. Bertha Benz quickly removed her hat pin, inserted it into the clogged hose, and the obstruction was removed. The “horseless carriage” had another breakdown near Söllingen. The short circuit was produced by a cable that had worn through. Instead of just letting the insulation fall apart, Bertha Benz replaced it by using her garter.
Dirty with oil but proud about it
The route Bertha Benz took on her legendary trip. (Image: Mercedes-Benz Group Media)
The next unforeseen difficulty arose not far behind Wilferdingen. The combustion engine car’s meager 2.5 horsepower rendered it unable to scale the steep inclines. This hill was ironically called “See You For.” To get the car up the hill, they pooled their efforts and then raced down it at breakneck speed since the brakes weren’t made for such speed. As Bertha Benz acknowledged, they were lucky to escape any harm.
Oily, dusty, and perspiring, the three explorers arrived in Pforzheim’s central square after midnight. Bertha Benz sent the unknowing Karl a telegram that said, “Happily arrived in Pforzheim.” His anger at the “plot of the three family members” was too much for him to process at once. As Karl’s memoirs reveal, “after the initial shock,” he felt “a secret pride.”
Despite popular belief, Bertha Benz’s first long-distance car journey did not get the massive amount of media attention that she hoped for. But it spurred Karl Benz on to greater things and is now seen as a crucial step on the road to commercial success for his revolutionary motorcars. A few weeks later, Karl Benz unveiled the automobile at the Motor and Working Machines Exhibition in Munich, where it won the prestigious “Great Golden Medal.”
25 Benz automobiles were sold between 1886 and 1894, with the majority going to the countries of France, England, and the United States. By 1899, Benz & Cie had grown to employ over 430 people and was making four-wheeled automobiles in large quantities.
Bertha Benz memorial route in Nußloch. (Image: 4028mdk09-CC BY-SA 3.0)
December 21, 2022
Suffrajitsu: Women Using Martial Arts to Fight Men
December 12, 2022
Role of Women in World War I and World War II
In favor of the struggles of men, chronicled in many books and bibliographies, history chose to ignore the individual merits and hardships of women during the 1914–1918 conflict. But the role of women throughout World War II from 1939 to 1945 continues to provide new avenues of inquiry. At the front, they were resistance fighters, spies, journalists, munitionists, nurses, and heroes of everyday survival.
Women in World War I (1914–1918)
Manufacturing grenades. 165-WW-593-A61.
There were two main responses from women when war broke out in World War I: either they wanted to serve in their own manner as near to the front as possible, or they wanted to make up for the shortage of males. The rural population that makes up the bulk of Europe’s population pushes women to take on the responsibility of managing the family’s wealth.
Whether in the city or the rural area, for every male recruited, a woman takes on the role of a spouse or father. Since female factory workers were paid just half as much as the males they replaced, they were seen as a source of inexpensive labor. These ladies worked up to eleven hours a day without proper safety precautions in place, leaving them vulnerable to illness, overwork, starvation, and exhaustion. Each shell weighed 15 pounds (7 kilograms), and the factory worker had to carry each machine twice a day for a total of 25,000 shells and 77,000 pounds (35,000 kilograms), which rapidly took a toll on her health.
The Status of Women
Some people think that women who enter the traditionally male-dominated workforce threaten the status quo and pervert traditional notions of femininity. As a result, women were expected to play supporting roles in the war effort, such as nurses and secretaries, rather than managers and workers.
This ensures that men will always be seen as superior. Women were limited to two stereotypes: the nurse, who was referred to as “the white angel” because she exemplified dedication, self-sacrifice, and appreciation for the soldiers’ sacrifice. The second symbol is the worker, a maid with a masculine gaze because the language of war trivializes and feminizes every task associated with the conflict.
Researchers and publishers did not start taking an interest in the enormous contributions women made during the conflict until the 1980s. English nurse Vera Brittain (1893–1971), a pacifist and a nurse in the front, has provided eyewitness accounts in which she details the horrors she and her fellow workers endured. These ladies had significant challenges readjusting to civilian life upon their return since they were not celebrated as heroes and their stories were not widely shared.
The Exploitation of Sexuality
The army views the gratification of sexual instincts as important to optimum performance on the battlefield; therefore, the state of war and the prostitutes recruited by the intelligence agencies instrumentalize sexuality. The clap, or pox, was dreaded by military health officials because they said it might kill more troops than the enemy, which meant that the warrior’s right to rest was balanced by the danger of the clap. It was an attempt to put women (whether for selfish reasons or not) at the center of the threat facing the country. In 1918, BMCs (military field brothels) were established by the French army in the cantonments.
Women for Peace
Women opposed to the war existed, most notably the devoted pacifist campaigner Jeanne Alexandre (1890–1981). She participated in groups that helped the jobless and refugees, like many other activists. Madeleine Vernet (1918–1949) wrote the review “La mère éducatrice” (Motherhood and Education) in 1917, citing Rousseau and Michelet in its reasoning: “I appeal to you all, oh mothers! Wives! Lovers! Sisters! That war has bruised yesterday and that it will bruise again tomorrow… It is up to us women to be redemptive. For we are the mothers, the creators of life.”
Women in World War II (1939–1945)
Survival, struggle, and resistance are different for women in civil life and family, whether in prison or an internment camp, and this was especially true during World War II, when the population of the occupied countries was thrown into more violent and extreme emergency situations for the categories that were being hunted.
In concentration camps, men’s capacity for pain was lower because they were deprived of food, while women were more acutely aware of the cruelty of the water shortage, which made it hard for them to maintain personal cleanliness. For a long time, the official history of the resistance failed to recognize the contributions of these women because they were devoted by habit and remained modest without seeking preeminence.
Without a doubt, the Jewish mothers who were forced to see the torture and murder of their small children in the extermination camps were the absolute victims of this war against women and endured the most anguish. When it came to providing for their families, women in civilian life on both the occupied and German sides had to constantly make concessions in accordance with a wide variety of constraints. Young moms were pressured to undergo an abortion (which was forbidden at the time) so that they wouldn’t have to bring an additional child into the world.
Women’s Emancipation, Inversion of Values
However, for many young women in this traditional community, the option to join the war effort represents the chance to leave home and liberate themselves from limitations. A large number of women take part in the conflict, even if they primarily identify with the clichés of the nurturing mother, the rest of the warrior, or the actual mother of “cannon fodder” able to revenge their fathers. This assistance, whether in uniform or overalls, was valued but still considered secondary.
The norms and values of that society were upside down. Under German influence, treason became praiseworthy in the occupied countries; denunciation was seen as a patriotic act that could earn a lot of money; looting, swindling, and even murdering Jewish citizens, resistance fighters, or other undesirables (the disabled, the elderly, communists, mongols, homosexuals, maladjusted people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Gypsies) was permitted and even encouraged.
By establishing youth groups, the German government usurped the role of the family’s father figure and pushed itself on families. Teens who fought against the brainwashing were dealt with harshly. Moringen for boys and Uckemark for females were constructed as internment camps for German adolescents beginning in 1941 (neither Jews nor Gypsies were included). Mistreatment was the leading cause of death for most of these children (this chapter of Nazi history has not yet been the subject of extensive research).
To meet the quota of Jews that the German authorities demanded, Pierre Laval proposed deporting infants and toddlers to France. From July 1942 forward, when Adolf Hitler intervened during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, the Nazis had no qualms about establishing death camps for young children in Poland.
Forced Breeding Centers
A Lebensborn birth house, Bild 146-1973-010-11.
Concurrently, maternity facilities of the “lebensborn” type were established throughout the occupied territories of Northern Europe (France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and Poland) to carry out the scheme of forced reproduction. Young women with certain ethnic characteristics (blond hair, blue eyes) were forced to labor in these facilities for the duration of their reproductive lives. Their infants were subsequently placed with German families or in government-run boarding schools, where they were subjected to rigorous training.
The Child Between the Wars
Which infant best represents the prewar era? Let the kid scream, don’t rock him, bind his hands so he can’t suck his thumb, space out the feedings, teach him that he is not in command, and start him using the toilet at an early age—all things that Gilberte Bodson de Muyser recommended in her 1936 book on child-rearing. Imagine a “little monster” that, from infancy, must be conditioned to submit and obey, especially in matters of hygiene, at the cost of systematically rejecting any emotional demands. Could Hitler and his colleagues have experienced such childhood cruelty?
Can we somehow link the docility, mindless obedience, and normalization of brutality that this education fostered in the middle of the 20th century to the acceptance of Nazism (in Germany and France)? The sadistic infantilization of the camp inmates by their captors is brought to mind by Austrian psychologist Bruno Bettelheim’s “Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations,” which describes how the inmates were treated like helpless children and abused like sadistic fathers. Dysentery sufferers were shot down by the Gestapo (as if they were learning to clean themselves again). “The infantilization of the prisoners and the regression that followed are erected as a technique of submission and humiliation of the most powerful,” said Primo Levi (1919–1987).
The Issue of Rape
Warrior rest has traditionally been seen as culturally acceptable as a time for soldiers to indulge in sexual activity, particularly with enemy women (thus discredited). The sexual act of rape itself is not punishable in Germany, but the act of having sexual contact between an Aryan and a member of a racially or ethnically inferior community is. Roughly half of the women who were tortured died as a direct result of being raped in the torture chambers.
Between 1942 and 1945, American troops raped about 17,000 women. 64% of the women raped by American forces during the war years were in Germany, 22% were in France, and 14% were in England. A total of two million rapes committed against German women by Soviet troops were documented in the years after the war. When an unrelenting insult to a person exacerbates the horrors of war, how does one find the words to describe the indescribable and move on with life? And that’s not even taking into account all the suicides and abortions that followed this shame!
In the Aftermath of the War
After World War II, women just wanted to go back to where they were before the conflict, if not better off after all their efforts. However, the schisms were more severe than they were in 1918; incarceration, deportation, exile, emigration, and the shipping of children to other countries tore families apart and caused agonizing searches. The pain was born of the happiness of freedom. Those who made it through the deportation process but lost all of their relatives felt an overwhelming sense of remorse and isolation.
After the war, Resistance member Lucie Aubrac published “La Femme,” a journal for women that included a report from fellow deportee Simone Saint-Clair on conditions in the Ravensbrück women’s camp. It is one of the very first accounts of life in a concentration camp to be made public.
She inserted in her review this conclusion: “This bloody and happy peace as a new birth, we will care for, strengthen and love it. Love him so much with our toil and joyful desires that the little children of London, Rouen, Berlin, Leningrad, or Shanghai will never recognize the horror of the cellars under the bombings, the murdered parents, the hunger, the filth, all the warlike and imbecile fury of fascism.”
November 7, 2022
Why Does the Hair Just Not Sit on Some Days?
It’s like a jinx on those days when no amount of blow-drying, gel, or styling can make your hair stay put. It either droops down or stands on end as if electrified. These days, a lack of style doesn’t simply leave your hair looking unkempt; it may also have a psychological impact on you. Strange as it may seem, “bad hair days” really do only last a single day. As usual, by the next morning, everything is in its right place again. But what is the reason for “bad hair days”? Can you blame the weather? Do hormones have a role here? Or is it just imagination after all?
This phenomenon is indeed real. There are days when your hair is oilier or more resistant than normal. And for many people, it is a real hindrance when the hairstyle just won’t sit.
The sebaceous glands are affected by hormonal shifts
So, what causes these “bad hair days”? Hormone fluctuations are a probable explanation. Sebum production on the scalp and, by extension, hair oiliness, is altered as a result of this fluctuation. The hormonal shifts associated with menstruation play a part in this phenomenon in females. In the third week of the period, for instance, the hair may get oilier than normal.
The weather also influences the fit of our hairstyle. The hairs are more prone to being electrically charged in dry air, such as that seen in warm areas during the winter. They crackle when combed and stick flat to the scalp. A similar charge can be generated by friction on the pillowcase. Using silk bedsheets can prevent this. Silk is easier on the hair since it causes less friction.
Humidity in the air is another factor that may make a hairdo seem unflattering. Humidity is especially bad for people with curly hair because it makes the small flakes along the hair spread. This results in unmanageably wild hair that is impossible to comb through.
Afflicted hair responds more sensitively
The question is why some individuals appear to have more terrible hair days than others. Hair quality is often cited as a contributing factor to this. The most vulnerable individuals are those who already have hair that is difficult to comb due to an afflicted surface. This is especially true for those with longer hair.
Simply put, the protective coating at the ends of these hairs has been stripped away. Thus, they are more sensitive to changes in climate and other aspects of the environment. But it’s not true that only women ever have a bad hair day. Trichologists believe that a bad hair day happens to both men and women.
Men tend to be more antisocial, and women are more prejudiced
Yale University psychologist Marianne LaFrance has investigated the psychological effects of having a bad hair day on both sexes. Strangely enough, bad hair days are experienced by both sexes. But she claims that the response is different. When their hair looks bad, women tend to feel inferior, ashamed, and humiliated. Men are often more reserved, lack self-assurance, and exhibit greater anxiety than women.
When having a terrible hair day, people of both sexes are far more critical of their own talents than they are of those of others. It turns out that something as seemingly inconsequential as a bad hair day may have a profound effect on your sense of self-worth.
On a day when your hair doesn’t cooperate, it’s crucial that you not let that fact stress you out. Forceful attempts to shape the hair are futile and will only damage it. It’s more practical to braid it, conceal it, or try another style.
September 27, 2022
Why Do Feet Grow During Pregnancy?
September 27, 2022
Why do men go bald more often than women?
Why does baldness (Alopecia) affect mostly males? On the subject of preventing hair loss, the Internet is home to many promising tips and treatments.
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Hair loss is a natural part of the aging process in males. Not just elderly males but even younger men and women of both sexes are affected by it. However, where does this stereotypical depiction of a bald guy originate? And why is hair loss seen in women much less frequently?
It is a recurring misconception that only men experience hair loss. However, this is not the case. Loss of hair is experienced by more than half of all women over the age of 50. The progression of hair loss in women is fundamentally analogous to that in men but at a more subtle level. Most of the time, the condition shows up as a general hair loss that affects the whole scalp in a similar way.
Because of this, women are often unaware of the fact that they are losing their hair. They are more likely to observe that their hair seems to stop growing altogether or that the braid is becoming thinner. At first, only a magnifying lens can reveal that the hair is becoming thinner. It is often only when 50 percent of the hair has been lost that women can notice it with their own eyes.
The primary reason for hair loss is testosterone
But why is hair loss happening, and how can it be stopped? When it comes to males, the problem seems to be quite explicit: the male sex hormone is the cause of hair loss. Within the follicles of the hair, testosterone is altered into a different chemical form known as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The hair roots die due to the activity of this steroid hormone in the event that they are hypersensitive to DHT for reasons that are genetic. After this point, the hair will fall off and will not grow back.
DHT causes the hair roots to become so brittle in males that hair begins to fall out just above the scalp. This often refers to the hair that is located on the crown of the head, whilst the hair roots that are located on the neck and the sides seem to be resistant to the DHT. This pattern is also responsible for the distinctive bald spot or “crown of hair” that develops on men’s foreheads.
Women experience similar hair loss
Hereditary factors and hormones play the most essential part in hair loss in women as well. Like males, women might have hypersensitive hair roots that are passed down from their ancestors. After menopause, the amount of the female sexual hormone estrogen found in the scalp reduces.
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As a result, this increases the amount of testosterone found in the hair roots. Testosterone is also found in women. An excessive amount of testosterone might paralyze hair roots that are susceptible to DHT if this process does not take place uniformly.
According to hair specialists, the widespread nature of hair loss in women may be caused by the fact that women typically have lower testosterone levels than males.
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However, there is a suspicion that males and females may have a difference when it comes to the way hair loss is happening, but this has not been proven yet.
Also, the beginning of hair loss in women does not always coincide with the onset of menopause. According to dermatologists, in many instances, women begin to experience hair loss as early as the age of 30.
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Even though this happens only rarely, balding in women is still a possibility in the most severe circumstances if preventative measures are not taken. Consequently, it is important for women who have experienced hair loss to consult a medical professional.
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September 16, 2022
Women in Ancient Rome and Their Place in Roman Society
September 2, 2022