Examination of the gendered construction of cancer amongst men in the long nineteenth century.
This presentation examines the gendered construction of cancer amongst men in the long nineteenth century. Its target audience are students and staff interested in the history of cancer, as well all the broader, gendered history of illness.
Historically and historiographically, cancer was a gendered illness. For many reasons, it has been conceptualised by historians as a ‘woman’s disease’. Women were far more likely to be diagnosed with and treated for cancer in the past than men. However, this conceptualisation of the disease does not mean we should overlook the experiences of men. In fact, many male cancer cases demonstrate the significance of the disease on perceptions of the male body, social interactions, and notions of masculine identity more broadly. Through an examination of genito-urinary cancer cases in men, this paper calls for a greater awareness of male experiences of illness in the past, and especially so in the field of cancer histories. In many ways, male experiences of cancer resonated with those of women, whose cancers were often conflated with immorality and indulgent behaviour. In a similar vein, male cancer cases were often compared to or confused with cases of venereal disease, blurring the boundaries between malignant illnesses and acts of debauchery. While women were often blamed for contracting their own cancers and spreading it to others, men who experienced cancer did not escape similar judgement. Representations of male cancer cases were bound up with references to corruption, transgression, and intemperance. The symptoms associated with their illness made them vulnerable to complex representations of the male body as both dysfunctional and dishonourable.
Speaker
Dr Claire Turner
Claire Turner is an early career researcher specialising in sensory histories of disease in the early modern period. She completed her PhD at the University of Leeds in 2024 and is currently working with Manchester University Press to turn her thesis into a book, entitled ‘Plague and the Senses in Early Modern London’. Claire was the 2024-5 Postdoctoral Fellow with the Society for Renaissance Studies, where she undertook research on her new project, entitled ‘Cancer, Identity, and the Senses in Early Modern England, c.1583-1699’. She is now a Bridging Fellow in Medical Humanities at Durham University, where she is developing a project on cancer and the senses in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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- Please note this event is virtual only.
- Please note that this session will not be recorded.
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