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    154 MEDICINE AS A PROFESSION FOB WOME N*

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    -«A» » F In Or Inviting Women, Consider ...

    cations general in life domestic , tliat it and would social not life harmonise ; that the with advantages their necessary to be gained

    avofrom the services of women physicians would not compensate for the injurious effect it would have upon the women themselves who

    others pursued to the undervalue profession the , or importance the tendency of duties it might alread have y belong to induce ing

    to them . This objection , the prominent one which we usually meet , appears

    to us based on an entire misapprehension of what is the great want of women at the present dayAll who know the world must

    acknowledge how far the influence , of women in the home , and in societyis from what it should be . How often homeswhich should

    be the , source of moral and physical health and truth , , are centres of selfishness and frivolity ! How often we find women , well meaning ,

    of good intelligence and moral power , nevertheless utterly unable to influence their homes aright . The childrenafter the first few

    , years of life , pass beyond the influence of the mother . The sons have an entire life of which she knows nothing , or she has only uneasy

    misgivings that they are not growing up with the moral truthfulness that she desires . She has not the width , of view—that broad

    knowledge of life , which would enable her to comprehend the growth and needs of a nature and position so different from hers ; and if she

    retain their personal affection , she cannot _acquire that trustful confidence which would enable her to be the guardian friend of their early

    manhood . Her daughters also lack that guidance which would come from "broader views of lifefor she cannot give them a higher

    perception the personal of and life moral than she goodness possesses , attributed herself to . woman How is , that it , also the , with tone

    of social intercourse , in which she takes so active a part , is so low ? Thatinstead of being a counterpoise to the narrowing or

    selfseeking , spirit of business life , it only adds an element of frivolity and dissipation .

    The secret of this falling short of their true position is not a want of good instinct , or desire for what is right and high , but a

    narrowness of view , which prevents them from seeing the wide bearing of their duties , the extent of their responsibilities , and the

    want of the practical knowledge which would enable them to carry out a more enlihtened conception of them . The more connections

    that are established g between the life of women and the broad interests and active progress of the agethe more fully will they

    , realise this wider view of their work . The profession of medicine which ., in its practical details , and in the character of its scientific

    basis , has such intimate relations with these every-day duties of womenis peculiarly adapted as such a means of connection . For

    what is , done or learned by one class of women becomes , by virtue of their common womanhoodthe property of all women . It tells

    upon their thought and action , , and modifies their relations to other

    spheres of life , in a way that the accomplishment of the same work

    154 Medicine As A Profession Fob Wome N*

    154 MEDICINE AS A PROFESSION FOB WOME N *

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1860, page 154, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051860/page/10/