[To study medicine--a threat to women's health?].
110 years have passed since the first woman graduated in medicine in Norway. Marie Spångberg, married name Holth, (1865-1942) qualified in 1893, exactly 80 years after the Faculty of Medicine had been established in the first Norwegian university. The debates ahead of the decision to admit women to Academia were violent and the resistance considerable. In retrospect the protest from the faculty of medicine has been considered one of the most prejudiced statements of its time on women's nature. It is, however, a brilliant illustration of the establishment's view on the gender question. Marie Spångberg was an extraordinary woman. In order to reach her goals she had three barriers to pass. First, by studying medicine she passed the gender barrier. Second, as the daughter of a poor watchmaker's widow she moved up the social ladder. Third, as hospital physicians closed their gates to female colleges, she had to go abroad for her specialisation. Her education represented considerable social and cultural advancements. Marie Spångberg did not engage in the feminist movement, but she supported the battle and was fully aware that she enjoyed the fruits of other women's battle for freedom.
Schiøtz
Aina
A
Institutt for allmenn- og samfunnsmedisin, Universitetet i Oslo, Postboks 1130 Blindern, 0317 Oslo. aina.schiotz@samfunnsmed.uio.no
D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000266:history*; D016387:Women's Health