More Than Medicine: Social Justice and Feminist Movements for Health

In a conversation about her book, More Than Medicine, historian Jennifer Nelson will focus on how feminists of the ‘70s through the ‘90s applied lessons of the New Left and Civil Rights movements to generate a women’s health movement. The new movement shifted from the struggle to revolutionize health care to the focus of ending sex discrimination and gender stereotypes perpetuated in mainstream medical contexts. With renewed attacks on access to health care, contraception, and abortion, Dr. Nelson will suggest ways histories of feminist and social justice activism might provide lessons for current struggles for reproductive freedom.

 

Who Controls Women’s Health?: A Century of Struggle is a free, three-part talk series that examines key battles over women’s ability to control their bodies, health choices, and fertility. It is developed in collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York and supported by a grant from Humanities New York.