Feminism in the present day has evolved into a fight not just against systemic inequalities, but also against ingrained thought processes. Today, activists aim to abolish the distinctions that society makes between the masculine and the feminine, and what is considered appropriate for men and women to do. However, there was a time when the feminist effort was geared towards a much more fundamental human right, one that we now take for granted- equal access to education.
For most teenage girls today, when it comes to potential careers, the possibilities are boundless. However, this was not the case in the 1860s. In a time when women were prohibited from pursuing higher education, only a few dared to transcend these societal boundaries.
Meet the Edinburgh Seven. Sophia Jex-Blake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson, and Emily Bovell. The first group of women to be matriculated into any university in the United Kingdom.
Of the Edinburgh Seven, Sophia Jex Blake was the most instrumental in bringing about reform. With her strong character and firm resolve, she was able to establish the role of women in medicine and higher education as a whole. Epiphany struck her when she travelled to the United States in 1865 in order to understand the educational system there. Exposure to feminism and numerous well-known female physicians in the US made her question- why can't women in the UK be doctors? One of the most common answers at the time was that women were intellectually inferior to men, and therefore don't possess the necessary skills. However, pioneering American female physicians of the time such as Elizabeth Blackwell proved otherwise. This is what led Sophia Jex Blake to champion the feminist effort in the UK, specifically in bridging the gender gap in medicine.
Jex-Blake’s belief was quite straightforward- the claim that women are less capable than men can only be proved in an environment where both genders are provided equal opportunities. In her book, titled “Medical Women”, Jex-Blake writes “while providing for the most stringent examination of every candidate, no arbitrary barrier will be placed in the way of any, no regulations be allowed to stand which militate against the good old English motto for all- a Fair Field and no Favour!” (1). She was able to find six like-minded women who held the same passion and drive as her; together, they enrolled into the medical program at the University of Edinburgh, and were accepted. This was the birth of the Edinburgh Seven.
Jex Blake’s influence on the group was undeniable. Edith Pechey, one of the seven, even went on to say, “All we had done towards opening up the medical profession to women was due mainly to Miss Jex-Blake, who had got all the abuse because she had done all the work— in fact all along she had done the work of three women or… of ten men!" (2)
The path to reform is never painless. These women are classic examples of this. Even the most fundamental aspects of university life were a challenge for them- they were required to find accommodation elsewhere, pay higher fees, and were not even provided with professors. They had to teach themselves by making their own lesson plans based on the syllabus that the male students studied. After writing the first set of exams in medical school for physiology and chemistry, Edith Pechey came first place, and was given the opportunity to claim the Hope Scholarship. However, it was not awarded to her, and was instead given to male students who scored lower marks, because the medical faculty were afraid that “awarding the scholarship to a woman would be seen as a provocation to the male students.” (3)
The negativity surrounding their admission culminated in the form of what is now known as the ‘Surgeons’ Hall Riot’. Over 200 protestors gathered outside the Surgeons’ Hall to express their discontentment with the decision to matriculate these women. The Edinburgh Seven were on their way to write an anatomy exam when they were met with the protestors, who shamelessly threw mud at them, shouting obscenities and shutting the building’s gate on their faces. Despite the fact that there were hundreds of protestors against merely seven women, they never faltered from their stance and never once made an attempt to return to the domestic sphere, for they knew that the stance they had chosen was a difficult one to maintain, but a necessary one to advocate.
Fortunately, a drastic change was around the corner, and the Edinburgh Seven’s efforts culminated when the British Parliament passed the Medical Act of 1876 which allowed all medical schools in the UK to provide a license to anyone who qualified for it irrespective of their gender. This signified a paradigm shift in deciding who gets to be a doctor and who doesn't. Their movement garnered immense support from people all over the UK, including from some famous names like Charles Darwin. In a way, every single woman who has been admitted to and graduated from medical school, or any university at all, since 1876, is the result of this revolutionary bill.
So what does this mean to us today? The way I see it, these women are symbols of sheer grit. Their demands and expectations from their peers were simple, yet society was not prepared for them to persevere and secure what they deserved. Their determination was what drove them on despite innumerable setbacks, deep rooted sexism, and the callous attitudes that people had towards their efforts.
To many, seven may seem like an insignificant number, but this is what makes their effort truly astounding; seven, strong- willed, brave women spearheaded an effort that has enabled over 140, 000 women to pursue the career of their choice in the United Kingdom in 2020 (4). It is extraordinary to think that millions of capable passionate women were able to fulfill their dreams simply because seven equally strong and equally passionate women dared to question and transcend the ‘norm’. Thanks to them, women across the globe have been empowered to enter the medical profession, knowing that it is in fact a fair field with no favours.
Written by Samruddhi Lele
1. Jex-Blake, S. (1872). Medical Women, Two Essays [E-book]. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tha5bumj/items?canvas=7&langCode=eng
2. Sophia Jex-Blake. (n.d.). Sophia Jex-Blake. Retrieved March 2, 2021, from https://biography.yourdictionary.com/sophia-jex-blake
3. Edinburgh Seven. (2021, March 8). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Seven#The_Surgeon’s_Hall_riot
4. Number of registered doctors in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. (2020, June). Number of Registered Doctors in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/698260/registered-doctors-united-kingdom-uk-by-gender-and-specialty/
5. Sophia Jex-Blake and the Edinburgh Seven. (2018, January 8). University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/medicine-vet-medicine/about/history/women/sophia-jex-blake-and-the-edinburgh-seven
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