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Women Students and the London Medical Schools, 1914–39: The Anatomy of a Masculine Culture
Author(s) -
Dyhouse Carol
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
gender and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.153
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-0424
pISSN - 0953-5233
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0424.00091
Subject(s) - masculinity , politics , period (music) , gender studies , world war ii , first world war , sociology , work (physics) , doors , medical school , social science , political science , medical education , history , medicine , law , aesthetics , art , ancient history , engineering , mechanical engineering , structural engineering
During the First World War in Britain, women were exhorted to rally to the nation's need and to train as doctors. A number of the London medical schools opened their doors to female students for the first time. After the war, several of these schools reverted to their former status as exclusively male institutions. This article looks at these events in some detail, focusing on the controversies over co‐education in medicine and attempting to unravel some of the issues and politics involved. It is suggested that the gender politics which characterise these debates illuminate our understanding of the social history of work cultures and masculinity in the period.