Bettina Judd: The Researcher Discovers Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy
The Researcher Discovers Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy
Nurses ask me,
“How much does it hurt on a scale from one to ten?”
Anarcha Wescott, Betsey Harris, and Lucy Zimmerman
are taken into the care of a reluctant country surgeon in
Montgomery, Alabama.
see blood on a white hospital sheet,
tell me I am having menstrual cramps
Betsy’s first birth,
send me home with oxycodone, ibuprofen
Lucy, months out of household duties,
after five hours in triage
Anaracha, his first vesico-vaginal fistula,
and another prescription
In these three, Sims shapes his speculum, invents his
silver sutures, perfects protocol for proper handling of
the female pelvis.
we wake
Unanesthetized or addicted to opium, children born,
children disappeared. Helpless help.
Discussion Questions
The poem juxtaposes the historical exploitation of black women slaves with the contemporary experience of a black woman seeking healthcare. What stands out to you in the poem? How does it make you feel?
The poem begins with the familiar medical question: “How much does it hurt on a scale of one to ten?” What is the pain expressed in this poem? How does the poem make you think about the standard pain scale question?
Reflections from #MedHumChat
“I’m struck by how centuries have passed but Black women are still being neglected and exploited by the medical establishment. How can this happen despite the countless medical advances and innovations? This poem describes how structural racism remains intrinsic to medicine.”—@dr_uche_bee
“What stands out to me about the poem is how it describes the enslaved Black women whose bodies were experimented on (without consent) to advance science yet, despite this, Black women today have not benefited to the same degree as White women from these advances. Black women’s bodies were good enough to experiment on, but Black women have not been beneficiaries of scientific advancements because of misogynoir—evident in existing disparities in maternal mortality, breast cancer mortality etc.”—@DrOniBee
“I'm also struck by the "tell me I'm having menstrual cramps" line. The patient isn't given agency to express her experience of pain. Instead, the cause/nature of her pain is dictated to her”—@allison_tandem
“In the context of this poem, it makes me think about the immeasurability of suffering. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the suffering this poem speaks to, and then there is this asburd question: "how much does it hurt on a scale of 1 to 10?"“—@colleenmfarrell
“Poem makes me realize that the question really strips away the humanity of asking another person about their pain. So clinical, to reduce the experience of pain to a single number. How does that really help us to know a patient?”—@brianchiong
About this #MedHumChat
“The Researcher Discovers Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy” was paired with “You Be Lucy, I’ll Be Betsey,” another poem from Bettina Judd’s book, Patient, for a #MedHumChat discussion August 21, 2019 exploring The Living History of the “Father of Modern Gynecology.”
We were honored to be joined by special guest Dr. Oni Blackstock, MD, MHS (@DrOniBee), Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is also a primary care physician, HIV specialist, and researcher. You can learn more about her here.
The pieces for this chat, along with the discussion questions, were selected by Margot Hedlin.
About the Author
Dr. Bettina Judd (@bettinajudd) is an interdisciplinary writer, artist and performer whose research focus is on black women's creative production and our use of visual art, literature, and music to develop feminist thought. You can learn more about here here.