La rosa muerta de Zoila Aurora Cáceres y el archivo médico feminista del entresiglos
Abstract
This reading of Zoila Aurora Cáceres' novel La rosa muerta (1904) expands the intertextual universe of the text to connect it with medical discussions around women’s bodies and sexuality promulgated by modern gynecology and turn-of-the-century popular culture. I also propose connections with the observations and projects of some of the first South American feminist physicians. From literature and scientific-pedagogical writing, at the dawn of a new century and being participants of the first South American feminist wave, these authors coincide in their interest in gynecology, sexuality, hygienic and aesthetic care of women’s bodies, which was socially connected to the possibility of expanding rights for women. A reading from scientific feminism, recovering women's medical archive, on the other hand, allows us to reconstruct new facets of the history of medicine from the perspective of women and the popular culture directed towards them as consumers and patients. It also allows us to investigate issues such as fertility control and reproductive health as a social construct governed by patriarchal mandates and institutions.
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