Francisca Praguer Fróes: Medicine, gender and power in the trajectories of a Bahian woman doctor (1872-1931)

Abstract

Increasing urbanization, the growth of industry and commerce, and the beginning of a more favorable attitude towards women's work in the late 19th century in Brazil set the stage for the admission of women to higher education. Within this scenario, Francisca Praguer Fróes graduated in the Bahian School of Medicine and Pharmacy, in 1893. Besides dedicating her work to Gynecology and Obstetrics, she has fought throughout her life for the political and civil rights of the women, particularly in the field of health. Noteworthy, among others, is the diligence with which she defends the right to health for women infected by sexually transmitted diseases invoking precepts of hygiene for sustaining her proposition from a medical standpoint. Beyond woman's health, Francisca has been active in the political and scientific discussions on sexual moral, as a matter of fact an issue barely talked about in catholic Bahia. Involved in a broader discussion around the construction of the bourgeoise society, she went even further advocating that the topics hygiene, health and sexual moral should make part of the general social agenda of that time.