Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919)
Quite a nice looking, young lady of the 19th century, right? At the first glimpse of this photo most people may not notice anything unusual about her. In her looks she resembles many other women of her time. However, two things stand out: Her medal and her attire, which in this photo is feminine, but that wasn't always the case with her. She is a woman, and looks like a woman, but in her lifetime she came to be known as a woman in men's clothes. When she was asked about her male attire, she said: "Those are not "men's clothes", I, and nobody else, own them so they are mine." So, in her opinion she defined her clothes, instead of them defining her, which is something I applaud as it speaks of both stamina and independence.
Cross-dressing may be seen as some kind of joke, but not so with this woman. She, her five sisters and one brother were raised by progressive parents, and she studied medicine. After her studies she married a fellow doctor, and they set up a medical clinic, but neither the marriage nor the clinic worked because of the prevalent prejudices against female doctors. However, she made a name for herself as an army surgeon and was known as Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to receive this kind of honorary medals for her achievements in The Civil War.
Her work with wounded soldiers was, so to speak, her excuse for wearing men's clothes, but it's obvious that she didn't only wear them when working. In old age she looked like a fine gentleman, not in the least feminine anymore. In her lifetime she went from this:
to this:
I suspect that somehow she has become more renowned for her clothes than for her notable achievements as a surgeon, and that's unfair. However, these sad years of tRumpisism have led to the falsification of the history of women and black people which is something we should remember for better times: The truth is the truth, and should not be murdered for political or egomaniac reasons.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson in 1865. However, the U.S. government rescinded her medal and those of more than 900 others in 1917 when terms of eligibility for the medal was changed. Something which didn't stop her from wearing it for the rest of her life. Also, it sort of came back into history when this coin was issued:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-edwards-walker
https://youtu.be/VxBvFsoUZYI?si=_bEs2Xx52iG-7QgU
https://youtu.be/VxBvFsoUZYI?si=yro24ZwM_f7DIJRe
Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment