[The competence of a female. Battle against the rise of the female dentist].
The refusal of the Dutch Dental Society in 1898 to admit three female dentists to their ranks, was the reason for a polemic. Two important male dentists both wrote a pamphlet considering the competence of women for the study and the practice of learned professions like dentistry. Moreover, they deliberated the value of study and practice for both women and society. The authors are strongly influenced by Social Darwinism and their arguments would now be described as male chauvinism. They admit that women could do the job as well as men, if only after a long evolution. But that evolution is not to be welcomed at all: the best attribute of woman (maternal love) would be frustrated and her highest task (child care) would not be fulfilled. Her femininity would disappear and the new 'man-woman' would not be desired by men, which would be detrimental to the institution of marriage. Already now, they argue, marriages are diminishing, lose quality and divorces are on the increase. They know the cause of all evil: feminism and the women's rights movements.
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D002983:Clinical Competence; D003816:Dentists, Women / Q000266:history* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism / Q000266:history; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011057:Politics; D012922:Social Change / Q000266:history; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000266:history
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