i am sassa

“If society will not admit of women’s free development, then society must be remodeled.” -E.B.

You’d think that the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, with all the barriers that entails, must have had a burning passion for medicine. My take on Elizabeth Blackwell, however, is that she could have done anything she wanted, and that maybe her biggest passion was her unwavering stubbornness. She actually was very squeamish and hated even the thought of blood. Why on earth would she put herself through all the crap she dealt with to become a doctor then? My suspicion is that she did it because she was told she couldn’t.

She applied to at least sixteen different medical colleges, every one rejecting her because she was a woman. The one she eventually attended, Geneva Medical College, didn’t exactly let her in on her merit (though she had plenty). The faculty decided to pass the blame of her rejection to the all male student body by allowing them to vote on her admission. To their surprise, they voted yes. But to the students, it was as a very funny “joke”… one they would use on her over and over again when she actually dared to show up for class. I can’t help but wonder if the humor wore off when she graduated first in her class. Surely the last of the giggles subsided when her thesis on typhoid fever was published in a medical journal.

Blackwell eventually opened her own Dispensary and practiced medicine despite being deemed an insane witch by her community. She even offered free medical care to those who couldn’t afford it, regardless of race. She fought for her entire life for women’s rights, and even started her own medical school when things weren’t moving as quickly as she liked. It is her persistence, her insistence on pressing forward despite every possible obstacle, that makes this woman a badass to me.

Thank you, Elizabeth Blackwell.