Councilwoman wants to remove statue of Gynecologist

[Tinker]

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110214/harlem/ ... ue-removed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is a Central Park statue of a Doctor who operated on slaves without anesthesia. A city-councilwoman wants to remove it. Dr. Marion Sims, the inventor of Gynecology practiced on slaves without anesthesia.

[rednblacklumberjack]

What would she replace it with? I'd propose statues of the slave women.

Also, would anyone care to venture how you'd go about repairing this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesicovaginal_fistula

Our scarce medical knowledge was improved by this surgeon, and my personal feelings about do-gooders will never include types like this councilwoman. Her intentions may be good, but her focus is repugnantly narrow. I feel her position is interesting, but anachronistic. Slavery is a horror without equal. So too is a fistula. The role of healer often straddles the absurd injustices of mercenary societies. And still, this MD and his patients beat this disturbing malady. It is not often for medicine to eek unambigious victories. This person may be ambigious, but this is a victory. Same as polio and orphans.

To leave the medical comforts of the present, in 1870, the germs were winning. Infectious diseases could sleep past noon and still leisurely waft their way across the latrines and flea-bitten varmints and into the mucous membranes of our ancestors. The scale of death and of dead children could have brewed some powerful psychoses in those inclined to medical heroics. I think such psychoses may make one more human in some aspect. I think the grim reality isn't that of pipelines of slaves delivered to nefarious medical experimentation and vivisection.

NYT breaks it down:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... =permalink

[AzariLoveIran]

[rednblacklumberjack]

[Tinker]

Sounds like it got him off to me. He probably enjoyed mutilating their genitals.

I propose Henrietta Lacks as a replacement candidate.

[rednblacklumberjack]

[Tinker]

I can see that he did something that was beneficial to mankind. The Parks Department wants to compromise with explaining the nuance of the situation. I'm all for it, use the statue to teach some history. And build a statue of Henrietta Lacks somewhere.