Syphilis, Wives, and Physicians: Medical Ethics and the Family in Late Nineteenth-Century France

Dora's mother: a housewife's psychosis

“…The sociocultural aspect of syphilitic infection in the 1900s has been examined extensively, 8 linking to femininity 13 and the family matrix. 12 Feminist writers argue that early psychoanalysts failed to fully acknowledge that, for many, the avoidance of sex with men was based on their fear of contracting venereal disease and, for married women, their fear of passing the disease to their children. Sexual relations outside the social contract of marriage carried dangers as well, with the added elements of guilt and punishment for transgression complicating treatment options for sexually transmitted illnesses.…”

“…11 Physicians also reported syphilophobia, or the exaggerated fear of the disease, and hydrargyrophobia, or the fear of mercury, which was one of the main medical treatments. 12 It is also difficult to know whether a 'vertical' transmission of syphilis from mothers to babies as congenital syphilis, causing still-births and miscarriages, was a possibility in Dora's mother's case before the birth of Dora and her brothers.…”

“…11 Physicians also reported syphilophobia, or the exaggerated fear of the disease, and hydrargyrophobia, or the fear of mercury, which was one of the main medical treatments. 12 …”

The Politics of Reproduction: Maternalism and Women's Hygiene in Iran, 1896–1941

“…According to Jill Harsin, "Fournier himself was partly responsible for the growing list of health problems attributable to syphilis." 118 Similarly in Iran, disabilities in newborns were often, rightly or wrongly, attributed to syphilis. To emphasize this point, this journal, heavily influenced by French medical views on the subject, even published pictures of several infants with deformities purportedly caused by syphilis.…”