Readers unfamiliar with "'The Father of Modern Gynecology': J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813–1883)" by Joyce Carol Oates may prefer to read these notes only after reading the story.
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It was rare that I did not closely consult with a husband, a father, or a brother, after having examined a White female patient, and before revealing to her my diagnosis, like any other responsible physician of the day. Every aspect of the White woman's treatment which I undertook was with the approval of a husband or a relative, of course, for it would be he who would be paying my fee, and it would be his satisfaction I would have to provide, particularly in the case of certain "controversial" surgeries with which I was entrusted: requests by husbands of women concerned for their well-being, whether extreme agitation in the woman, or lassitude; manic laughter, or helpless tears; "frigidity" of the lower body inhibiting conjugal relations, or, perversely, an unnatural "avidity" of the lower body during conjugal relations; all these, forms of hysteria.
Removal of the ovaries was frequently prescribed for these afflicted women, in more extreme cases the removal of the entire uterus (thus, "hysterectomy"); another frequent request was the surgical removal of the vaginal "clitoris," like the appendix a mysterious but useless part of the body with a dangerous latency, described in Galen as hyper-sensitive to any touch, with a propensity to exacerbate excitation, anemia, sleepwalking, hyperventilation, overeating, anorexia, morbid thoughts, migraine, insomnia, madness, and certain unspeakable habits of a degenerate nature more often associated with the male of the species, in his looser behavior.
The usual stratagem was to invite the (unwitting) patient to the physician's surgery, and converse with her on pleasant, innocuous subjects while providing her with a hot liquid, usually tea, containing a strong soporific, that would soon cause her to fall heavily asleep, without the slightest suspicion; when, hours later, she was capable of being roused, the surgical intervention in the nether region of her body would have been completed, and, apart from inevitable pain, and occasional complications requiring further treatment, the patient would be carried home to heal in quiet, sequestered circumstances. (Rest assured that these surgeries were carefully executed to protect the modesty of the patient: the head and torso of the comatose woman were chastely draped in a white cloth, to render the circumstances impersonal, as in an anatomy lesson, while the thighs were propped up, and spread, exposing to the surgeon's clinical eye the nether regions of the woman, i.e., the vagina, labial lips, birth canal, etc. Steely nerves were required of any surgeon who ventured into such territory, that presented a hellish spectacle to the eye; truly, beyond the power of language to describe, nor have I attempted to describe except to say, in the Journal, humbly, and without vanity or pride, that indeed I saw everything, as no man has ever seen before.)
According to my carefully maintained physician's log for these years, in no cases did one of my White woman patients complain of the purifying transformation of her body; rather, the removal of ovaries, uterus, clitoris, was scarcely registered at all, in those who survived, most of whom continued on a daily regimen of laudanum….
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"'The Father of Modern Gynecology': J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813–1883)" by Joyce Carol Oates is not for the faint of heart.
Our narrator, Syms, a real figure from U.S. history, tells the reader how he overcame anxiety and social inferiority in his professional practice and became reconciled to his position and reputation. It is a bloody but compelling narrative; while Syms may not himself have been a monster, he certainly served monsters who commanded a monstrous social system. That monster would never be killed by prayer, wooden stakes or silver bullets: it would require unconditional warfare to uproot and destroy U.S. chattel slavery.
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In Horror literature through history: an encyclopedia of the stories that speak to our deepest fears (2017) Rob Latham says of Joyce Carol Oates:
A significant portion of her vast literary output has been cast in the Gothic mold, has deployed themes of the grotesque and uncanny, or has been self-consciously modeled on previous work in the genre....
Oates permits her readers
.... a vision of horror literature as a cathartic mode, which, by evoking "an artful simulation" of an emotion that is "crude, inchoate, nerve-driven and ungovernable," prepares readers to confront real-world terrors when they arise (Oates 1998, 176).
Her stories are filled, Latham writes, with "themes of haunting, dark obsession, and morbid diablerie (sorcery aided by the devil)."
In "'The Father of Modern Gynecology': J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813–1883)" the dark obsession of Syms is social and professional mastery. While he cannot "fake it til he makes it" with middle class Caucasian female patients, he ends his memoir when he has achieved an élan that grew from his work doctoring slaves.
When I tried to explain that the exhausted mother would very likely not live unless she received further medical care, which I would be happy to provide for no extra fee, no one seemed to hear; it was forcibly iterated that General Meigs would be pleased with the outcome—"That is all that matters, Doctor."
Belatedly, a muted joy rose in my heart, that jubilation which came to me only at the Plantation, in circumstances like these I could not foresee, beyond my control: that, though a failure elsewhere, I was something like a success at the Plantation, and should rejoice in what success I have, and not pine after more.
A picnic basket of the most delicious fried chicken, and other specially prepared foods, was presented to me, to devour on my journey back home, for which, in my famished state, I was grateful.
Jay
1 July 2022
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From: Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous
Edited by Ellen Datlow
(Tor Nightfire, 2022)
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