Hysterical Medicine

Hysterical Medicine explores the occasionally funny, often strange, and outrageously misogynistic history of women's healthcare. Hosted by Board Certified Ob/Gyn and amateur historian Dr. Joe-la DeWitt, and her husband, regular guy, Matt.

Modern Comstockery 04/22/2025

Modern Comstockery Zombies are dangerous. I don't mean the ones on The Last of Us or The Walking Dead. Sure, they are scary, but they are fiction. Comstock and his law are very real, and - somehow - that law with the sole purpose of governing the behavior of adults acting on their own and hurting nobody - is still on the books. For our final episode of the season we discuss legal scholarship and why it is so critical for the next 3 1/2 years as rights to healthcare and access to safe procedures and prescriptions are being stripped from women at an alarming rate. Listen and find out why we absolutely must Kill the Comstock Zombie or risk a massive list of much bigger problems. Thank you for staying with us for season 1! Please spread the word and let others who feel like we do know about this information - especially this last episode - as it's so important for all of us to stay educated while we are being dragged into a new dark age. See you in Season 2 starting in August! Feel free to find us on TikTok between now and then or shoot us an email at - especially if you want a sticker! /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/36256460

Anthony Comstock: America's Busiest Body? 04/15/2025

Anthony Comstock: America's Busiest Body? Anthony Comstock was very invested in policing the activities of others. He was obsessed with it, really. The United States was a wild place around the time of The Civil War and old Tony just wanted to be the best dry goods merchant he could be - after he tried his hardest to single-handedly eradicate "vice" that he saw as the scourge of all humanity. Come along this week for part 1 of 2 in our double episode that wraps up season 1. We will tell you all about Comstock, his absolutely bonkers obsession with other people's lives and activities, and begin to discuss why it is critically important this very day that we learn about him, so we don't let people like him do what he did to try to suppress EVERYTHING he thought was amoral - which was a lot. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/36139495

Freud, Princess Bonaparte, and The Big "O" 04/08/2025

Freud, Princess Bonaparte, and The Big "O" Napoleon (yeah, that one) had a great grand-niece who was REALLY into the female orgasm. She did a whole lot of research, writing, and even surgery to try to "fix" it. Of course she enlisted the help of Dr Sigmund Freud in her quest, but he couldn't figure out how to fix it either. Join us this week as we explore this distant relative of the Emperor and how she managed to care so deeply about such a personal subject, that she was willing to go under the knife so she could experience something that almost no woman does, because men called it "normal". Have you had your orgasm today? /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/36046150

Sarah Baartman: The "Hottentot" Venus 04/01/2025

Sarah Baartman: The "Hottentot" Venus Sarah was born in Southern Africa and had her life turned completely upside down for the sole reason that she did not look like white, European women. She was very intelligent, speaking several languages. She was also stolen from her home and put on display as if she were no more than a sub-human side show. Join us this week to find out what it took for her to be considered so supremely exotic that she had to be taken from her home and put on display for europeans to gawk at - primarily due to a dire lack of understanding, education, and willingness to see other people from other parts of the world as human - just like them. It's not like any episode is particularly light-hearted or "fun", but this one really is a rage-inducer for many reasons. These stories need to be shared and understood if we want history to stop repeating itself, so let's dive in. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35951985

Cut it Out! How to Deal With a Pesky Clitoris 03/25/2025

Cut it Out! How to Deal With a Pesky Clitoris It's the final episode in Clitoris month and MAN is it a doozy! Men tend to be doozies when it comes to the female body and the clitoris has really stuck in their craw since they decided that it does exist and it's not the Devil's mark on a witch (go back a couple episodes for that). This week we tackle all the horrible things that men have done, in the name of medicine, health, and "care" to maim women and misunderstand a very important part of their bodies. We promise, it gets a tiny bit hopeful at the end, so you should stick around until then to hear the "Salad Bowl" theory from Matt's old friend Wayne. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35846335

The Cult of the Clitoris 03/18/2025

The Cult of the Clitoris There were days in the Western World - not so long ago - that just knowing the word "clitoris" was enough to get you labeled as a criminal. In this episode we talk about some scantily clad dancing, some war, some politicians, and, as usual, rich, white guys who don't know the meaning of much at all. Join us to find out if you would have been labeled as a pervert or reprobate by the acceptable society types of the 20th Century or beyond. Would you try to kiss dead lips or perform the dance of Salome? Hmm...would you rub a person? Either way, you may be at risk of being in a cult. Come on in and get hysterical with us to find out whether you're the problem in society, won't you? /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35729960

The Devil's Teat and Aristotle's Masterpiece 03/11/2025

The Devil's Teat and Aristotle's Masterpiece Did you know that a woman who is found to have "The Devil's Teat" is known to be a witch? Did you know that Aristotle's Masterpiece was an exceptionally popular book that was just smut for its day and was neither written by Aristotle, nor a masterpiece. On this episode - the second of Clit Month - we dive into anatomy, history, and some of the batshit crazy things men have declared about womens' bodies through the years. Strap in, everyone, and don't forget your fly knobs! /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35617430

Lost, Found, Lost, and Found Again: The Clitoris 03/04/2025

Lost, Found, Lost, and Found Again: The Clitoris This pesky little devil has been there since the beginning of humans, but for some reason has been "discovered", lost, found, and so on through history. This is the first episode of Clitoris Month on Hysterical Medicine, where we talk about who thinks they found it, what it was thought to do, and what other mammals have one. Stick around all month long as we deep dive on the "man in the canoe". /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35512530

It's All Greek To Me 02/25/2025

It's All Greek To Me They call the Greeks "The Fathers of Medicine", but just how much did the "fathers" bother to figure out about their mothers, wives, sisters, or any woman who needed medical attention at that time? These men - these "Fathers of Medicine" - assumed A LOT about how women's bodies and men's bodies were both similar and different. Spoiler alert: they made a lot of bad assumtions. Join us on this journey into how wrong the learned men of any day can be, when they don't bother doing any research and guess at every turn. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35416745

The Triple Obstetric Tragedy 02/18/2025

The Triple Obstetric Tragedy In this episode, we discuss The tragic short life of Princess Charlotte, her 50 hour labor and subsequent death at the hands of…you guessed it: incompetent man midwives. Her death in 1817 and its consequences were far reaching, probably still having an effect on your life at a wedding or around the holidays. It's truly amazing and tragic how the Princess met her end, as a woman of royalty, whose health was put in the hands of the absolutley wrong people. This episode also features the bonus of one of our cats who will not shut up during an hour where it would have been awful nice for her to. For those of you who have heard these first episodes and noticed the audio quality is only OK, don't worry. Beginning soon, we will have all new mics and it's going to help everything sound TONS better. Thanks for hanging in with us while we get everything fine tuned! /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35322900

What's in the Box?! 02/11/2025

What's in the Box?! Ahhh, the Chamberlens. What can I say about them that is even remotely polite? They probably helped some women deliver some babies throughout thier 200 year secrecy campaign over a giant, ornate chest that they hauled into the birthing chamber before everyone was kicked out and the expectant mother was blindfolded and draped in blankets. What's in the box? Listen to this episode and find that out, and a whole lot more about how men like this are a huge problem even today, right here in the USA. If you're not at least a little pissed off at this family by the end of the episode, you might want to listen again. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35231295

The Curious Case of Mary Toft 02/04/2025

The Curious Case of Mary Toft Mary Toft lived the quiet life of a peasant farm worker during the mid 1700s. She was married, illiterate, and did what she could to help support her family. One day, out of nowhere, she started to give birth...to rabbits. This episode is the tale of how man-midwives, doctors, and surgeons put poor Mary through endless torture in their search for their own fame. It is a truly wild tale, and is almost certain to make you hysterically mad. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35131935

Invasion of the Man Midwife 01/28/2025

Invasion of the Man Midwife There was a time when a woman just had to swear an oath to the church and pay a fee to be a midwife. There were no other qualifications, and that was not at all the worst of it. In today's episode we talk about how men decided to make their way into midwifery, call themselves "Man Midwives", and then decide to invent Obstetrics so they didn't have to be called Man Midwives anymore. This one has some jaw-dropping facts and figures from centuries gone by, many of which we have yet to outrun. Listen up and get hysterical with us, won't you? /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/35033090

Midwifery, Men, and Mary Poppins 01/21/2025

Midwifery, Men, and Mary Poppins Matt explores his "ability" to channel foreign accents as we jump into the sidewalk chalk drawing and take a tour through the development of the man-midwife. Yes. Seriously. The man-midwife was a major part of women's healthcare for quite some time. Join us and find out why it was exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, won't you? /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/34938965

Talk Like an Egyptian 01/14/2025

Talk Like an Egyptian In episode 2 we talk about the basis of modern medicine through the eyes of ancient Egypt. A lot of people think that Hippocrates is the "father of modern medicine" but he borrowed a great deal from a culture that beat him to the punch. Find out why the Egyptian's were SOOOOO CLOSE to getting gender identity right but then EVEN MORE WRONG with how they solved that "mystery". Egyptian culture had a long history and contributed a great deal to how we live today. A tiny bit of it could even be considered good. Now, how was our pronounciation? /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/34842460

Couvade: The Ultimate "Man Cold" 01/07/2025

Couvade: The Ultimate "Man Cold" In many unrelated cultures across the world, there has been, and STILL IS a phenomenon known most widely as "The Couvade". After a woman's pregnancy, the father is treated as if HE was the one who carried and delivered the baby! What?!?! Where did this come from? Why did it ever happen? Why, OH WHY, is it still happening in some places? This is my first episode, and I know it's not specifically about women's health - but it does set the tone for the baseline of how women have been treated by doctors and the like for millenia. Try your very best to remain sane while I tell you about this absolutely preposterous phenomenon's origins and practices. It is insane, and anything but, hysterical. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/34729360

Trailer - Episode Zero 12/07/2024

Trailer - Episode Zero Welcome to Hysterical Medicine! Today we spend a few minutes to tell you what the show will be all about. The first episode will be released on January 7, 2025 - please subscribe and get ready for a wild ride through the downright infuriating and often laughable history of women's health in the western world. /episode/index/show/e61d8dc1-0b14-430a-bd1a-b851b21e3171/id/34327550

Hysterical Medicine

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