The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives Forever

by Lydia Reeder

How Victorian male doctors used false science to argue that women were unfit for anything but motherhood—and the brilliant doctor who defied them

After Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school, more women demanded a chance to study medicine. Barred entrance to universities like Harvard, women built their own first-rate medical schools and hospitals. Their success spurred a chilling backlash from elite, white male physicians who were obsessed with eugenics and the propagation of the white race. Distorting Darwin’s evolution theory, these haughty physicians proclaimed in bestselling books that women should never be allowed to attend college or enter a profession because their menstrual cycles made them perpetually sick. Motherhood was their constitution and duty.

Into the midst of this turmoil marched tiny, dynamic Mary Putnam Jacobi, daughter of New York publisher George Palmer Putnam and the first woman to be accepted into the world-renowned Sorbonne medical school in Paris. As one of the best-educated doctors in the world, she returned to New York for the fight of her life. Aided by other prominent women physicians and suffragists, Jacobi conducted the first-ever data-backed, scientific research on women's reproductive biology. The results of her studies shook the foundations of medical science and higher education. Full of larger than life characters and cinematically written, The Cure for Women documents the birth of a sexist science still haunting us today as the fight for control of women’s bodies and lives continues.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Feminism, Biography, Medical, Health

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2024

About the author

About the author
Lydia is the author of the award-winning DUST BOWL GIRLS: THE INSPIRING STORY OF THE TEAM THAT BARNSTORMED ITS WAY TO BASKETBALL GLORY, a thrilling depiction of the birth of women's competitive basketball that takes place in Oklahoma during the Great Depression.

An Oklahoma native, Lydia's roots run deep. Some of her favorite times as a child were spent on her grandfather’s ranch near Chickasha making hay-bale tunnels, fishing for bass, or traipsing through miles of pasture. Today, she lives in Denver with her husband and their five cats. Her outdoor adventures include hiking the long, rocky trails that wind through the mountains of Colorado.

Her upcoming book, THE CURE FOR WOMEN: DR. MARY PUTNAM JACOBI AND THE CHALLENGE TO VICTORIAN MEDICINE THAT CHANGED WOMEN'S LIVES FOREVER (St. Martin's Press, December 2024), reveals the nineteenth-century origin of the pseudo-science that supposedly connects all of women's ills to her reproductive system. It tells the story of the women doctors and suffragists, led by Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, who fought back against this attempt to control women's bodies and lives.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review for THE CURE FOR WOMEN: “[Brilliant] … Reeder’s winsomely written narrative touches on issues strikingly similar to ones widely discussed today, including women’s ongoing frustration with the lack of robust medical study of the female body and the troubling reemergence of reactionary assertions that women are by design not fit for work. It’s an urgent and revealing slice of history.”

Prior to becoming an author, Lydia worked for many years developing eLearing for continuing education in the fields of nursing and healthcare.

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I knew I wasn't going to feel great as a dude at the end of The Cure for Women, but I powered through anyways. Lydia Reeder tells the story of Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and various other women as they take on the medical patriarchy who are real jerks. In some cases, they were legit psychos who experimented on Black women without anesthesia.

Unfortunately, the writing in this one is what let me down. First, Reeder often goes off on tangential stories which don't have to do with Jacobi but do have to do with women in medicine. You wouldn't single out any one thread and say it's completely out of left field, but you probably would object to so many topics that don't relate directly to Jacobi's story. In fact, Jacobi herself doesn't really show up until the very end of the second chapter. This is not a fatal flaw of the book, but it is noticeable.

The other problem with the writing is much more serious and quite ironic. Reeder tends to use her own words to tell the story and avoids quoting the women directly. You get a lot of paragraphs which read like, "Then she did this. Then she did this. And she didn't like this person." These women were prolific and clearly there were sources to pull from. It made for a slog because I want to hear from the source. For instance, Elizabeth Blackwell features prominently, especially in the beginning of the book. I kept feeling like I wasn't getting to know Blackwell, but rather I was getting to know what Reeder thought of Blackwell. Later in the book, Reeder finally quotes fully a letter Blackwell sent to Jacobi. It was the first time I felt like I knew who Blackwell was as a person (and leader because her guidance in this letter was pitch perfect). Reeder does become more willing to quote towards the end. Unfortunately, this is too far into the narrative and it is not used enough to save the story.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.)

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In 1873 the Comstock laws made all forms of birth control illegal and by 1880 nearly all states had outlawed abortion. None confronted the fact that when embryos and fetuses were protected as fully human, the lives of women became dehumanized and incidental."

This book was inspiring and infuriating. Unfortunately we are getting closer to the world that Mary Putnam Jacobi lived in than the world my grandmother lived in. We are going backwards. Lots of the stupid beliefs that men had 150 years ago are gaining more and more power today. Things that were being said about a "woman's place" in 1885 are the same things you will hear from Jordan Peterson or Charlie Kirk today. Dr Jacobi studied gender fluidity back in 1889 and her findings would be today called out by a certain author of a book about a wizard.

I wanted to laugh at how ridiculous men were 150 years ago but I can't because I fear we are heading back there. From 1904 until the 1970s women physicians never got above 6%. Today 60% of practicing physicians are women under 35. Over 85% of all obgyns are women.

"The only true human beings are men; all that is truly woman is merely reproductive"

The fight that women like Mary Putnam Jacobi fought over 150 years ago are still being fought today. The little girls being born today may have less rights than their grandmother's. I think it's time we made some good trouble.

I highly recommend this book...today more than ever.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting and informative, well-written work of non-fiction. It is thoroughly researched and contains fascinating facts pertaining to women's health from the mid to late 19th century, and vividly describes the strides made by the ground breaking physician, Mary Putnam Jacobi. Ms. Reeder does an excellent job integrating medical facts, procedures and beliefs and the biography of Dr. Jacobi with the events of the time period. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Ms. Reeder, and NetGalley, from whom I received an advanced reader copy of this enlightening book. This is my honest opinion.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

How grateful I am for this woman who kept to the road her heart put before her. . . .that women could do anything a man could, and in some particulars even more. She pushed back, resisted and marched through any fears or worries that crept in the corners.

I appreciated the many directions the author took Dr. Jacobi's story, right down to every tangent and backstory. It helped place me in spaces the Doc had to navigate, and understand the context within which she had to move - we have had our share of fighting, for sure, but she was at the very gates of the first battles. These were fights won, victories gained that we enjoy every day (we are reading, ladies, we can own property, drive, work, and oh so many things our grannies couldn't!).

I appreciate the author choosing to share what she has learned about Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi. Huzzah!! Steps forward. Opening doors to health for women by women, resulting in healthful choices for all humans. Steps forward.

*A sincere thank you to Lydia Reeder, St. Martin's Press, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cure for Women is the history of a crusading doctor who embraced science over false narratives, hygiene and diet over cruel operations and procedures. She fought for equal, co-education for women in medical schools and supported women’s suffrage. In a society based on systemic misogyny and male superiority, Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi forged an outstanding career. And watched as men claimed her discoveries as their own.

The Cure for Women is a shocking read.

It was a male doctor who noted declining birth rates among white, Protestant women. A believer in eugenics, he feared the decline of the white population and became obsessed with criminalizing abortion. The procedure had been traditionally available until ‘quickening,” which each woman determined for herself.

It was a male doctor against educating women who believed that women living together in school dormitories would become lesbians, prostitutes, or nymphomaniacs!

It was a male doctor who observed dogs in heat and concluded that women were fertile during menstruation! Women were advised with the absolute wrong information for conceiving, lowering birth rates.

(It was Dr. Putnam Jacobi who discovered when ovulation occured, her discovery leading to the rhythm method.)

A popular male doctor advised that women marry at puberty and stay pregnant as a way of curing the “morbid state of menstruation!”

It was Dr. Putnam Jacobi who understood that menstruation was part of the “process of forming nutritional reserves” in preparation for pregnancy.

It was a male doctor who taught that mental exercise could render a woman sterile for life! Male educators believed that women were incapacitated during menstruation and could not be relied upon to attend school or work.

There was the male doctor who removed the ovaries of women epileptic patients as a cure. (No surgeon gelded a man as a medical treatment!)

A male doctor promoted a ‘rest cure’ for women that involved complete dependence, loss of all control, confined bed rest, and forced feeding. Dr. Mitchell taught women to suppress emotions and schedule every minute of their day.

Jane Addams underwent the rest cure for her depression; when she saw no change, she left and traveled to Europe where she visited settlement house and returned to America with a purpose.

One victim of his ‘cure’ died of an organic ailment, and another left his care to write The Yellow Wall Paper, a novel based on the experience. He diagnosed commercial artist Charlotte Perkins Stetson with neurasthenia. He thought she was a frivolous and spoiled woman who had the perfect life as a wife and mother, but was unhappy. He sent her home with instructions to “live as domestic a life as possible…And never touch pen,brush, or pencil as long as you live.” She realized that the ‘cure’ was driving women mad, and wrote what is now considered a groundbreaking feminist book.

Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi married a respected and wealthy Jewish doctor for love. They worked together and co-authored a book and had children. But over time, her husband became less supportive, pressuring her to be more domestic. She believed in the theory of bacteria causing sickness, but when their oldest son became ill with the disease her husband had studied, he took over medical care. The boy died, furthering tension in the marriage.

Putnam Jacobi became involved with the suffrage movement, raising money through parlour meetings, and she supported humanitarian causes and spoke out against corrupt politics.

Women today are up against regressive legal and governmental restrictions limiting their autonomy and control over their own body. The Cure for Women reminds us of how the fight for equality and self determination is ongoing, how far we have come, and how much we stand to lose.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

[Holly | Raise Your Words · Rating 2 out of 5]

​| 2/5 Stars | ★★☆☆☆

Trigger Warnings for The Cure for Women: Medical Misogyny, Gender Discrimination, Historical Injustice, Illness, Death, Emotional Trauma, Societal Oppression, Mental Health Struggles, Inequality, Medical Experimentation

The Cure for Women is a medical, nonfiction book by Lydia Reeder focusing on Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi's life. In particular, we follow Dr. Putnam Jacobi through her trials and tribulations associated with becoming a medical doctor. We see her harrowing journey to give women a footing in the medical world.

The Cure for Women sadly did not come with a cure for my boredom. I was really excited for this audio book as I love listening to a good nonfiction book, especially when twists of feminism are sprinkled in. I really do love what Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi has done for women both as doctors and as patients, but Reeder does not recount her story well. Reeder takes the reader on multiple tangents with characters that aren't at the core of our story: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi.

Overall, The Cure for Women went on some wild tangents. I still am confused what the Blackwell sisters did compared to what Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi did. Their stories seemed too intertwined in the way this book was written. Thank you to Lydia Reeder, Dreamscape Media, and Netgalley for an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review.

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[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of The Cure for Women, by Lydia Reeder, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, was a women born before her time, Men did not want women doctors, they were not welcome din most medical schools. Women were to have children, not be doctors. Dr. Jacobi was admitted to Sorbonne Medical School in France, though Dr, Jacobi had connections, her father was a well known publisher. Returning to New York, life was not east for a women doctor, but Dr. Mary Jacobi engineered the first ever data back scientific research study on women reproductive health, and we thank her for it today. This was a very interesting book, on a very interesting women.

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: Dec. 3, 2024

Lydia Reeder’s second book, “The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives Forever” examines the history of women physicians, especially Mary Putnam Jacobi and her colleagues, and the challenges they had to overcome in order to be acknowledged in the medical field.

“Cure” discusses Dr. Putnam Jacobi and other influential female warriors in the fight for educational equality in North America. Readers are introduced to Mary et.al first as people, as women, mothers, partners, wives and as the intelligent, capable and respectable doctors they wish to be. The story takes place during the nineteenth century so Mary’s fight also happens to coincide with the suffrage movement. It is difficult to consider one fight without considering the other and, of course, Mary played a huge part in both. Reeder gives a rather large section of the book to the suffrage movement and the fight for equality for women in the nineteenth century.

Reeder does justice to the men involved in the story as well. Of course, Mary and her comrades had opponents, and rather vocal ones, but it was her male supporters (and their financial contributions) that Reeder makes sure receive the credit they deserved. “Cure” is not a feminist hate-on the entire male gender, but there are parts of it that made my female blood boil. I was fascinated in the archaic (and often false) views that male physicians had on the female body at the time and yet, they continued to tout themselves as “experts”, even over women themselves.

Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi was a white woman from an influential family (Putnam, as in Putnam books) so she had quite the podium to preach from. However, because of her, medical schools like John Hopkins and Harvard were finally able to cast their misogyny aside and accept female students (John Hopkins did not accept female medical students until the late twentieth century!). This, of course, led the way for females of colour to find their footing in medical school (although there are still huge racial differences in medical school student applications).

“Cure” was well-written and interesting, honest and heartfelt. It should be a surprise that I have never heard of Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi before but, sadly, her name has not been given the recognition that it should. The medical field still has a long way to go before female patients are given the medical care they deserve, but “Cure” helps us remember how far we’ve come, and pays respect to the female heroes who brought us there.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Cure for Women, Lydia Reeder begins by providing a picture of the state of the practice of medicine in the United States in the mid 19th century and women’s place within that picture. Needless to say, women were tolerated by some doctors in their relatively new roles as nurses (where they assisted during the Civil War). Some men thought women should be shielded from such horrors as exposure to wounds, male bodies unclothed, etc. At this time there was a budding movement of women who sought to become doctors. No medical school in the U.S. would accept a woman. But there were women-led medical schools which were teaching women all pertinent subjects, their founders having been educated in Europe. The doctors Gladwell were among the early leaders inspiring Mary Putnam, daughter of publisher George Putnam.

This book is the story of Mary Putnam (one day to become Jacobi with marriage) and her lifelong work to not only become a doctor but to bring more American women along with her. It places her firmly in her time and amidst the forces affecting her struggle, primarily the vast majority of physicians of the United States who saw women as beings with one destiny, being healthy mothers of white babies. The eugenics movement was underway in the latter half of the 19th century and women’s primary area of importance was known and noted to these men. Examples of essays and articles are provided in the text. One fascinating detail for me was that Mary Putnam Jacobi and other women scientists and European trained doctors were using harder science and practices than their male counterparts.

This is a fascinating study, with references to the primary source (diaries, articles, speeches, etc) primarily cited second hand though many examples are provided at least in part. There is an extensive section of footnotes. I recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s struggles for equality not only in education and the workplace but as human beings, a struggle that continues today.

Rating 4.5 rounded to 4


I received an eARC from St Martin’s Press through NetGalley.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read. We NEED TO KNOW how hard the women who came before us fought for rights we may take for granted nowadays.

This is a well researched book that relays the history of women fighting for their right to attend medical school at U.S. universities. Also, their battle to get good, scientifically researched medical treatment for themselves. They had to fight the patriarchy and their antiquated, bigoted ideas about what women were capable of and men's misinterpretations of "women's ailments". It relayed the history of women's suffrage to earn our right to vote. So many of the rights we enjoy now, were hard won in the Victorian era and beyond.

Honestly, I knew things were bad for women back then, but I had no idea just how bad it was. I am SO thankful I didn't live in those times. And I'm SO very thankful for the brave, strong, intelligent women who fought these battles for all future women. A very good read.

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Cure for Women, copyeditor-turned-writer Lydia Reeder writes an extended biography of Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842-1906), a trailblazing American physician whose medical career spanned key years in American women's rights and suffrage. Reeder's biography of Dr. Putnam Jacobi takes up approximately 50% of the book, with the other 50% painting a broader historical picture of the time, with an extended cast featuring Drs. Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe (see Elaine Showalter's The Civil Wars of Julia Ward Howe for an excellent biography), Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Dr. Abraham Jacobi (Dr. Putnam Jacobi's husband) and a large army of loud male doctors who opposed women working in medicine and generally appearing in society outside of the domestic realm due to a litany of ridiculous reasons from racism to menstruation (I was reminded at this part how menstruation is still, in the 21st century, a cause for temporary exile in certain parts of the world - see Rose George's Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood).

Reeder deeply researched this book, but listening the audiobook version without citations, it does appear she is frequently guilty of my nonfiction pet peeve speculating about what these historical figures said, felt and thought in areas that don't appear in the historical record (though many of these figures did leave behind memoirs, publications, letters, and the like). This is especially pronounced at the end when Reeder confidently states that Dr. Putnam Jacobi, had she been alive today, would have been a vocal member of various progressive medical societies and would have opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade and would have been organizing protests around it, etc. -- so this book appears guilty of my other biggest nonfiction pet peeve, assessing and judging people of the past by today's sociocultural norms. So those two major faux paus are the drivers of my rating here on a book that's otherwise very impactful.

Further reading: women in medicine of the 19th and 20th centuries
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice Nimura
Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell
Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century by Jasmine Brown
No Man's Land: The Trailblazing Women Who Ran Britain’s Most Extraordinary Military Hospital During World War I by Wendy Moore

My statistics:
Book 314 for 2024
Book 1917 cumulatively

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many things about this book that should either scare you, make you angry, or both. It's barely been 150 years since Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi fought for the rights of women to receive scientifically-based medical care and have the right to understand and control their own bodies, and already some of her work is being undone by modern politicians. Even without the impressive medical advancements she made in gynecology, the mere fact that she helped pioneer the idea that (gasp) women's brains and uteri aren't inextricably linked and that women are more than walking incubators with communally-owned ovaries is important - and, I would say, at risk. She even laid the groundwork for gender fluidity and the idea that gender is a social construct, which again, is under attack presently.

Reeder lays everything out cleanly and clearly, using primary sources to drive home the fact that no, she's not making any of the horrific things white male doctors said in the 19th century. The epilogue reminds us that Jacobi's work is at risk, but still provides a bit of hope, because we have won this battle before. It's frustrating to have to keep re-fighting it, but still worth the effort. This book will make you angry, but maybe that's why it needs to be read.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The barriers that females had to break down in order to become doctors in the Victorian age was astounding. The story and struggles of the firsts: Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, Ann Preston, Marie Zakrzewska, and especially Mary Putnam are expertly told in this book. While most of the book centers on Dr. Putnam Jacobi, the stories of the prominent male doctors who helped form public opinion against women participating in any sphere outside the home, especially medicine, are delved into as well. I found their stories to be equally interesting even though it was difficult to stomach the thoughts and words they expressed. What I found the most fascinating, (and so much of this book is) was the written reactions of the women at the time to these pigheaded men. I didn’t realize any women expressed those thoughts that sounded more like what a woman would have said during the women’s movement of the 60’s and 70’s. But this was 100 years earlier! Dr. Jacobi was a master at the retort. These early female doctors worked tirelessly to get themselves and other women into the profession and with the highest standards employed. The drama and politics involved was truly fascinating.
The tangents that the author includes are all extremely interesting, so I didn’t care when it seemed the main story of Dr. Jacobi was repeatedly absent for several pages.
I give this book 5 stars for all but the last 2 and 1/2 pages. Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi passed away 118 years ago. Even the author can’t speak for Mary’s beliefs on the current research on gender and the recent Supreme Court case because the current medical data may have led her to a different conclusion.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my opinion. I highly recommend it!

[G Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a title that grabs attention and a subtitle that could have been broader to more fully and accurately capture the content of the work (ie "Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the women who changed Victorian Medicine forever" or something like that), The Cure for Women is a fantastic little deep-dive into the specific struggles surrounding women's education in medicine and the development of medicine as a science in general.

Written in a wonderfully cinematic style, the core narrative has the feel of a big streaming network prestige drama as the stories of Mary Putnam Jacobi, the Blackwell sisters & their various supporters and detractors weave in and out of each other to tell a broader story of the way women in medicine were perceived, their contributions to the field of medicine, and of course their struggle for acceptance in a male dominated field. Entire chapters devoted to secondary characters in the tale provide a fantastic bit of insight into their worldview and helps to illuminate certain figures beliefs and motives. It should be noted that this is not a historical treatise, but a commendable piece of historical research intended for popular consumption. As such, the author does not refrain from offering her own musings on what some of the key characters may have been thinking or feeling. These asides are fairly presented as her own musings and not stated as fact, but given the obvious amount of research that went into this book, I can understand if these editorial interjections are jarring to others. For me, it felt like putting as fine a point as needed on the story being explored.

As a piece of feminist narrative nonfiction, Reeder doesn't shy away from pointing out certain perils and injustices of the time period that parallel or are devastatingly/disappointingly still relevant to us in the modern era, but it never feels overwrought. With a single exception, I felt that Reeder was largely content to let the men of the era and their actions and writings speak for themselves regarding the disdain, contempt and outright hostility they had for women and people of color in general. That noted exception was of a single chapter that in my opinion went on for far too long detailing to the greatest degree possible Mitchell's "Rest Cure" which was about as horrific as it sounds benign. This was in part to drive home the extent to which women suffered under the purview of male doctors so thoroughly convinced of their superiority that they actively harmed women to put them in their place, but even so it felt a bit gratuitous. Perhaps that was the point, and if so, it is a point excessively made to my taste.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things that I personally took from this story wasn't even necessarily about the women themselves - though their lives and efforts were certainly incredible. It was the way in which men of the era actively caused harm to women - to people - rather than simply admit they didn't know what the hell they were talking about. They supposed, they conjectured, they philosophized, and when shown hard data proving them wrong, they turned away and continued to put more people in harm's way. They didn't do something as simple as washing their hands because it wasn't manly, they went from surgery to surgery spattered in gore because it showed how practiced they were, and for all the claims of being logical and unmarred by emotions, they were showmen and shysters, crybabies throwing tantrums, and basically... imbeciles.

Don't worry, this is the part where we #NoTallMen (heavy eyeroll) - Reeder is not shy about pointing out those men who were genuinely interested in helping women's campaign for access to medical education, both for altruistic and opportunistic reasons. Similarly, many of the women work against each other at times and with each other as is convenient to their ends. They were real people who lived and had personal goals that coincided and conflicted. But it is humbling as a man to read about so many well-intentioned men in this history being seemingly on the right side of history but still blinded by their own bias. It is certainly an invitation for us men in the modern era to examine ourselves and our biases. We say we treat women equally or believe in equality, but the intentional action of living up to those words is so easy to fall short of in a society that too easily forgives and excuses men for bad actions.

Still, the story being told here isn't about the evils of men, but about the arc of justice. It took a depressingly long time, but women doctors are today very normal and it is largely thanks in part to Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and her allies. She was, as we all are, merely human. She wanted to study medicine for herself, not for women everywhere. She knocked down doors to get in the room for herself, not for women everywhere. But when women everywhere wished to follow her into the room, she helped propped the door open. I think that is a very real and relatable message, and something that all of us can take inspiration from: she was not the hero of a story, merely a person who followed her ambitions without regret.

Thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape for early access to this audiobook. Book to be released Dec 3, 2024.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

With every year as my birthday approaches and I get older, I realize that I need to know more about being healthy and about my own medical record. So every year I try to dive into a story that teaches me something more. I have to be honest, I had so much faith in the medical community that, up until a few years ago, I had no idea how much of our medical information was based on men's bodies and not women.

This was a wonderfully informative story about a doctor that defied them all and tried to understand and treat women. There were doctors and stories that just enraged me and there were parts that were hard to read - because it was so emotional. Even though nonfiction isn't really my jam, this one was easy for me to digest. I think it's important that all of us learn more about our health and bodies. I recommend this one for learning more about the basis of medicine and some of the leaps and bounds we've had to make to learn the things we have.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating biography of one of America’s early women physicians. Jacobi’s life and career provides an important window into American medicine in the 19th century and the condition of women in American society. Also super relevant in the context of our current political climate and attacks on women’s health. Reeder clearly did extensive primary source research and it showed in the detail of her narrative. Highly recommend!!

[Laura A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Jacobi was a woman ahead of her time. She believed she could help i a male dominated field. This book was eye opening in what woman had to go through decades ago.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well researched. It is infuriating that women are still fighting some of the same battles we have been fighting for centuries. Learned a lot about women and medicine in early 19th century. Medicine in general.

[Liv Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

every time i read a womens history book i find a new historical man i would like to shoot with a gun

[Kammy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned listening at 56%… not what I had hoped it would be. Started with some good medical history quickly went downhill with a political slant, women are superior, proabortion, men are evil blah blah..
The book has so many people and places and minute details I never got a feel for who we were supposed to be learning about, Mary Putnam Jacobi. I do remember that she earned multiple degrees, and was more of a researcher than physician.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were aspects of this history that I loved and aspects that I struggled with. Dr. Jacobi was a remarkable scientist and physician who deserves to be remembered for her contributions. However, at times this book wandered too far into the edges of the story, giving the reader too many details about people and situations that had little to no impact on the path of Dr. Jacobi. Overall, it's worth a read if you are interested in medical history and women's contributions.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

ty to netgalley for the arc of this

this was good!! I feel like I learned a whole lot. my only critique would be that it felt like the author lost the plot at times? like the book would get side tracked with giving full explanations about people who weren't the main point of the book.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly about Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, with jaunts into related figures and issues in medicine related to women in the U.S. in the mid-to-late 1800’s. At age 15 she wrote to a friend, "but I am so unaccustomed to be with any people but those whom I like that I am entirely unfitted to general society." Same, sister.

I’m struck by:
-The fake science that was stated as fact that men reached a higher level of evolution and women's minds had less intellectual and emotional development. And much other ridiculousness. Darwin's interest in women's nature - he believed that women's utter dependence on men, along with their desire to be attractive, had to be reinforced or men could not continue to evolved (through procreation!). In Ch. 9, Clark teaching that "scientific evidence had proved that if girls studied more than 4 hours a day, their exhausted bodies could not produce enough energy to grow proper reproductive organs." In Ch. 11, Dr. A.F.A. King (a prominent professor of obstetrics): Gestation was the proper function of the adult uterus, while menstruation was fraught with danger, proof of functional inactivity on the part of the uterus, which therefore becomes liable to atrophy...pregnancy "cured" menstruation.

-Stop sticking things up women's butts! electrodes, olive oil, anything. This comes up multiple times in the book.

Ch. 3 - MPJ told her father about her plans to be a doctor and he encouraged her, "don't let yourself be absorbed and gobbled up in that branch of the animal kingdom ordinarily called 'strong-minded women'...I do hope and trust you will preserve your feminine character. Be a lady from the dotting of your i’s to the color of your ribbons. And if you must be a doctor and a philosopher, be an attractive and agreeable one."...-She wrote her thesis entirely in Latin, the root language of medicine. The fact that a number of her professors could not read Latin was not her concern. Putnum was determined to meet her own high standards.

-Ch. 12 - here we get Dr. Mitchell and his rest cure! (See Butcher by Joyce Carol Oates) In his book so awesomely named "Fat and Blood and How to Make Them". And here we go with making women crazy with your prescription for them to do nothing, which is a form of torture. Mitchell believed that educating women was of no use due to their innate biological weakness.

-Ch. 13 - Oh no now Abraham is just like every other husband, treating her like a child and telling her she is the mother so it’s her job to care for the children. This amazing woman. He told her that if she had more patience and less arrogance she would remember everything that he had done for her career. That alone should have caused her to give into his wishes and show him the appreciation he deserved. He complained that Mary stubbornly lived by her own decisions, and her actions only made him angry. Then their son dies and Abraham could not recover but Mary faced her pain openly so that eventually she could salvage her capacity for happiness for her daughter’s sake. Because that’s what moms do, pick up the pieces because we have no other choice, keep it together for others.

-Ch. 15- Mitchell again, sent Charlotte Perkins Gilman home as cured with these final instructions:” Live as domestic a life a s possible, have your child with you all the time, lie down an hour after each meal, have but 2 hours an intellectual life a day, and never touch a pen or pencil again as long as you live (she was an artist and writer). So those instructions would make any woman go crazy. Later Charlotte understood that the cultural demands placed on women by men like Mitchell were making them mad.

-Ch. 15 - Because Jacobi was curious about gender fluidity, she researched sexual identification as a way to prove that a woman’s mental capacity was equal to man’s. Sex hormones would not be discovered for more than a decade, but she wrote case studies that explored gender equality and demonstrated that an individual’s intelligence was unrelated to sex organs. She argued that in fact no one was ever completely feminine or masculine.

Epilogue - As Jacobi often advised: Risk everything, work hard, and reach for the stars. But most of all, organize.

[Karyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, this was not the week to read this book. Except perhaps it was, since everything else seems to be crumbling around me. It shows has little things have changed in 150 years.

I was aware that for much of the history of the United States that it was a racist and misogynistic society. I was not quite prepared, even still, to find out *how* misogynistic it was (and still is). Men didn’t even bother to study an actual woman, but instead decided that in order to develop into the best version of a woman (which really just meant functioning womb), girls should not be subjected to learning between the ages of 14 and 18. Too much energy expended in learning would affect the proper development of her womb, and her womb is far more important than her brain, of course, so that she can produce more white males for her nation. It boggles the mind that this was taken as fact, especially since boys go through puberty as well, yet there is no concern about their brains stealing energy from their reproductive organs.

Let’s consider the “jeering incident,” in which male medical students harassed women students during a lecture by throwing things, including spitballs, at them, splattering their skirts with tobacco juice, jeering, shouting, name-calling, and then chasing after the women as they left, making belching and fart noises, all as the women sat stoic and silent. Tell me again that women are the emotional and irrational ones. Men cannot stand to be outdone by a woman without throwing a massive temper tantrum.

My only issue with this book is that it doesn’t always focus on Dr Jacobi, but tries to explain the entire movement for women’s medical education which is also wrapped up in education in general and the suffrage movement. The book opens with Drs Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, as well as Dr Ann Preston, before we meet Dr Jacobi. There is *so much* information, and so many women, in this book that the reader feels overwhelmed at times. It’s also infuriating that European medical schools were accepting women (though not always giving them a degree, simply for being a woman) long before the United States would even consider such a thing. I do think it’s important to realize that a great deal of the misogyny of the Victorian era was wrapped up in eugenics as well, engendering the fight against abortion that started when white male doctors were realizing that the vast majority of those seeking abortions were white, married, Protestant women, the same women that were supposedly the last line of defense against so-called “race suicide.”

I’d suggest this for all people interested in the history of medicine to read, but I’m sure many men who read this would become defensive, considering how poorly men throughout history have viewed women.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

For content - and historical - accuracy, details, and theme, I’d probably rate it as 4.5. On readability more like a 3 or 3.5. It is full of detail. There are hundreds of people named along with their connections that it’s hard to keep them straight. Its chapters are prefaced with a date, but I still found it confusing as to what year it was throughout to book. There were references forwards and backwards in time. There are lots of excerpts from articles and book from the time (~1860-1904) and if you’ve read essays from that time period, you know language was much more formal and complex than now. And since the book revolves around women who want to become doctors along with the treatment of women by male doctors, the narrative can get bogged down. The writing is sort of thesis-like. So, it’s not exactly “pleasure” reading.

Even though it was a bit of a hard read, it’s a book I think all women, especially women doctors or women wanting to be doctors, should plow through just to be reminded of how recently women were denied college (and sometimes even high school) education and denied entry into medical school and positions as doctors in hospitals unless they were “women’s schools” and “women’s hospitals”. Women were also denied the right to vote, even when they had careers and earned income or owned property and paid taxes levied entirely by men, and how women were subjugated and belittled by men in so many ways.

There are many beliefs held by men of the time that are so repugnant that it’s sometimes hard to keep reading. There are many popular racial and female gender views (not pro) from the late 1800’s cropping up more and more these days, it’s worrying. Currently events are showing just how tenuous women’s rights and freedoms are.

[Mairy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic and empowering book on the struggles and fights women had to put up with to finally getting acknowledged as beings with a functional brain. Many parts of this book are enraging to read, realizing how men were diminishing them in order to stay in power and in control of the medical field. But thank to women such as Mary Putnam, who pushed through, and who knew that she was worth a whole lot, she made it possible for women to become nurses, doctors, surgeons. A must-read if you want to have more meat to chew on next time you are having a debate with a man over women history.

[Maggie Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating to learn additional medical history from a female trailblazing (and often times ridiculed) account of so many remarkable women medical staff, some patients, and the family and societies that surrounded them.

[Lisa Henderson-Farr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book about the history of women doctors and their fight to be included in the medical field. The Cure for women also includes men's evaluation of women's health and their beliefs on what caused certain ailments. I found these male doctors beliefs to be absolutely ridiculous and outrageous. The concern that if a woman received too much education they would become sterile is so completely unbelievable. i
I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of women's rights, education and health.

[Sam (Sassyowlreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! I recommend pairing it with All In Her Head!

[Paula Mashke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed learning about the life of Mary Putnam Jacobi and the women who were the first doctors to practice medicine in America. This book was very revealing of the struggles they faced in paving the way for themselves and the future generations of women in medicine. The story also tells of the men in their lives who were obstacles and out right opponents of the women, with some mentioning of the men that were supportive. This book was well researched and very informative.

The author takes many circuitous routes to tell Mary Putnam’s story. I often learned more about other characters in and around Mary Putnam’s life, which was enriching knowledge to have, but was too tangential to the structure of the story. Also, the overbearance of authors opinion and voice was distracting. It leaves a sense the author does not trust the reader to come to the same conclusions and understanding of the circumstances, struggles, persecutions and abuses these women were facing at that point in history, so the author tells and suggests how to feel and also how the characters feel. This may have been avoided with less of the author’s personal opinions and more direct quotes from the well documented characters’ lives. The documented facts of what they faced can stand alone. These facts are quite shocking in and of themselves.