Vicissitudes of Female Medical Education:

Emergence of Kadambini in Colonial Bengal

Abstract

When the issue of female education became consolidated with the progress of rapidly changing time of the period, general female education was given recognition and due priority annually in government reports. The question of adequate nursing in the Medical College Hospitals was both important and difficult and compelled the Hospitals to employ an inadequate number of nurses. The production of trained nurses opened the avenue for female medical graduates in Bengal. But they had to face hard confrontation with teachers of the Medical College itself due to the fact that so far women had been seen through the ‘male gaze’, now it seemed to be a topsy-turvy situation. Women could attain a space of their own and they could see the patriarchal society through their gaze, which was never acceptable to the society. The world of male hierarchy and domination was much afraid of an independent space for the women where Kadambini stands alone like an iconic figure. This article ventures to document the intellectual legacy of Kadambini in this context of patriarchal opposition to female medical education.