Seeing the bigger picture: what is gynaecology for?

Abstract

This paper situates Rodrigo de Castro Lusitano’s De uniuersa mulierum medicina (1603), within the longer history of gynaecology and of the questions raised by having a separate branch of medicine dedicated to women. I argue that the focus of ‘gynaecology’ has historically been on difference: on women’s bodies being seen as fundamentally different from those of men. I argue that one danger of the recent resurrection of a focus on difference is that it could lead to negative changes to women’s roles in society.