11/06/2025
System of the injustice
Yes, the inventor of the speculum used an early version of the device during experimental surgeries on enslaved Black women in Alabama in the mid-19th century. The inventor was J. Marion Sims, often referred to as the "father of modern gynecology".
Sims developed his surgical techniques and perfected the design of the vaginal speculum through years of operating on approximately a dozen enslaved women, three of whom are known by name: Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy.
Key details of these experiments include:
Lack of Anesthesia: Sims performed these multiple, painful experimental surgeries without anesthesia, operating under the prevailing, racist belief that Black people did not feel pain in the same way as white people. When he later performed similar operations on white women, he used anesthesia.
Absence of Consent: As enslaved people, the women could not legally or practically give informed consent to the procedures; permission was obtained from their owners, who had a financial interest in their recovery.
Repeated Operations: The women endured numerous surgeries; Anarcha, for instance, underwent an estimated 30 operations before Sims perfected his technique using silver wire sutures.
Brutal Conditions: The women were housed in a small infirmary behind Sims' house and were often held down by other doctors (and sometimes other enslaved women) during the procedures. One patient, Lucy, nearly died from blood poisoning after a procedure.
The speculum, a crucial tool in gynecology today, originated from this unethical research, which remains a significant point of controversy surrounding Sims' legacy. A monument called "The Mothers of Gynecology" was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2021 to honor Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy.
