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Doctor Woman: The Life and Times of Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw

Elizabeth Bagshaw was a forerunner of the women's movement. As one of the first women to practise medicine in Canada, she had to overcome society's bias against women in medicine. During her seventy-year career she helped to instigate change in public opinion on that issue, as well as the issue of birth control. The film captures the personality of this remarkable woman through a contemporary interview and re-enactments of episodes from her youth. The sepia tones of the re-enactments are in keeping with the film techniques of the time, giving the viewer a strong sense of the period. The film …
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Elizabeth Bagshaw was a forerunner of the women's movement. As one of the first women to practise medicine in Canada, she had to overcome society's bias against women in medicine. During her seventy-year career she helped to instigate change in public opinion on that issue, as well as the issue of birth control. The film captures the personality of this remarkable woman through a contemporary interview and re-enactments of episodes from her youth. The sepia tones of the re-enactments are in keeping with the film techniques of the time, giving the viewer a strong sense of the period. The film is of special interest to persons interested in the evolution of women's roles in Canadian society.

Sexuality and Reproduction Women - Portraits Health and Medicine All subjects
  • director
    Mark McCurdy
  • cinematography
    Mark McCurdy
  • writing
    Nancy C. Johnson
    Kem Murch
  • editor
    Conrad Kugler
    Mark McCurdy
  • production manager
    Nancy C. Johnson
  • music composer
    Mickey Erbe
  • music - arrangement
    Mickey Erbe
  • voice
    Elaine Caulder
  • narration
    Elaine Caulder
  • re-recording
    Doug MacPherson
  • unit administrator
    Lise Turcot
  • producer
    Beryl Fox
    Nancy C. Johnson
  • executive producer
    Don Hopkins

Education

Ages 10 to 18
School subjects
Family Studies/Home Economics - Feminism Health/Personal Development - Sexuality History and Citizenship Education - Culture and Currents of Thought (1500-present) Social Studies - Social Policies and Programs

In small groups, research images of women from the different periods of Dr. Bagshaw’s life (early 1900s, 1920s, 1940s, etc.). Use primary sources (newspapers, magazines, etc.). How have women’s roles, including participating in professions like medicine and law, changed? Access to birth control was and still is controversial in some communities: ask students to debate whether birth control should be freely available in schools or at what age young people should have access to it.

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Doctor Woman: The Life and Times of Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw
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