Beth Linker, Ph.D., Department of History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, History of Nursing Seminar Series
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Place: 3R Conference Room, Claire Fagin Hall
World War I Rehabilitators contended that the conventional Victorian notion of womanhood—defined as a nurturing mother-type figure—would be dangerous to the rehabilitation movement, for such a woman might pamper the disabled man, diminishing his will to work. The ideal woman, according to one rehabilitator, would instead exert a “firm but kindly discipline” over disabled men to get them to the point of self-sufficiency. This paper will explore both how female medical aids (physical therapists, occupational therapists, and nurses) and rehabilitating soldiers reacted to this demand.