The medical view of women: the case of the late nineteenth century Canada.

Historians in recent years have become interested in the medical treatment meted out to women, particularly in the mid-to-late nineteenth century when gynecology developed as a medical specialty. Not surprisingly, studies have linked medical therapeutics and medical concepts of biological woman to practitioners' sociological perceptions of women. Late nineteenth-century society stressed the differences between the two sexes more than their similarities and it was this focus which directed physicians in their professional endeavours. In addition, given the complexity of their reproductive system, women were more challenging as patients than men and thus attracted more medical attention. This resulted in a large body of medical literature on women which reinforced the already existing belief that the differences between the sexes were more significant than the similarities.