“The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by man’s attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman-whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the uses of the senses and hands.” Charles Darwin published these words in his book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex in 1871, which focused primarily on the evolution of man. These words epitomized why science and medicine became so male-dominated by mid-century. Even Charles Darwin, a man who was very liberal in his politics and morals, was convinced of there being an evolutionary difference between men and women as it pertained to intellect. This essay will discuss how it was the Victorian ideals of domesticity, not differences in intellectual power that made medicine and scientific research a gentleman’s field.
The domination of medicine and science by men was very understandable by Victorian standards because women were seen as incapable of generating the intelligence that such an occupation required. Many Victorian scientists and doctors viewed menstruation as a prime example of this evolutionary handicap. During menses, women “suffer under a languor and
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His sex also provided him with this advantage, because such schools were not open to females of his class or otherwise. Darwin wrote that while at Cambridge, he met Professor Henslow and exclaimed that it was “a circumstance which influenced by whole career more than any other” (Darwin, 54). The relationships that Darwin developed while in school helped to shape his career greatly. The mentoring that was available to him from men like Henslow were integral in his development into a scientist. Darwin respected and admired these men because wrote extensively about their politics and demeanor in his