Perception and deception
For those who remember our review of The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel, prepare for an encore in the same genre. Marginalisation of women’s contributions by men who had a greater control over the narrative is the theme here as well.
First up, who is Anarcha Westcott? She was an enslaved African American woman who suffered greatly from an obstetric fistula (a tragic injury caused by prolonged labor during childbirth). This was considered untreatable in the mid-19th century, where her story is set.
And who is the man who denied her, her due? Meet Dr. J. Marion Sims, who has been hailed as the “father of modern gynaecology.” The book highlights how Sims, in his quest to find a surgical cure for fistulas, subjected Anarcha to dozens of surgeries without anaesthesia in his backyard hospital in Alabama. Not only this, but his ‘research’ and aggressive self-promotion are now immortalised by three statues of his, across the United States!
Dr. Sims is remembered but alas, Anarcha isn’t. Here are our Bookstrapping insights.
1. Sims own records and the accounts of contemporaries, provide a detailed record of his life. His journey from an insignificant “plantation physician” to the head of the American Medical Association (AMA) and founder of a women’s hospital in New York are well documented.
2. Unfortunately, Anarcha is but a blip in history. What really happened to Anarcha? Fortunately, author J C Hallman investigates and brings her story alive.
3. What he uncovers is a trail of incorrect diagnoses and messed up surgeries by Sims, bringing suffering and death to many enslaved women and children.
4. It is the great suffering he caused his victims, and how his moral fabric allowed it; that is the focus of the book. One can imagine how horrific it is for such a sensitive part of a woman’s body to be operated repeatedly without anaesthesia!
5. And here’s the worst part- even after so many attempts, Sims never cured Anarcha, says the book. What is worse, the device he developed for fistula surgeries was not functional.
It is portrayed by Sims that Anarcha disappeared; however, the author’s research reveals that even after being grossly violated, Anarcha lived on as a midwife, nurse, and “doctor woman.” Such was her service!
Anarcha was a physician in her own right! A very sobering reckoning of our past, prejudices and history.
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On instagram @officialReetaGupta