Incompatible Rhetorical Expectations: Julia W. Carpenter's Medical Society Papers, 1895–1899

Abstract

This article examines 3 papers presented before the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine by 19th-century physician Julia W. Carpenter. The article identifies 3 strategies Carpenter used to negotiate the incompatible rhetorical expectations for women and for physicians. The published records of academy discussions provide evidence for Carpenter's colleagues' reactions to each strategy, revealing the complexity of her rhetorical situation and demonstrating the complex links among rhetorical practice, professional identity, and a communicator's social position.

Keywords:

• feminism
• Julia W. Carpenter
• medical rhetoric
• women physicians

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carolyn Skinner

Carolyn Skinner is an assistant professor of English at the Ohio State University, Mansfield. Her research examines scientific professionalism in the rhetoric of 19th-century women, particularly its effects on their ethos and their argumentative strategies.