Dr James Barry, the first doctor to perform a successful C section wherein both mother and child survived, was a huge champion of handwashing at a time when most doctors didn’t wash their hands. For this reason, many of the chilldbirths he delivered resulted in healthier babies and mothers. He was also a gay trans man, who specifically wrote that upon his death he wished for his body to be taken in its nightshirt, wrapped in his sheets as a shroud, and placed into the coffin so that nobody would see his body. His wishes were not respected, and as a result he was outed at his death.
i’ve also been informed he had a poodle. He named his poodle Psyche. I’d just like to congratulate him on being an excellent human being, who not only pioneered modern medicine but also had good taste in dogs. that is all.
types of responses to this post
i thought this was fake but it’s not
here’s the sawbones episode about him
cis people
He was also reportedly quite the ladies’ man, and he’d apparently carried a child to term and gave birth.
he’s one of my favorite historical figures and ive read a lot on him including the biography Scanty Particulars by Rachel Holmes. a lot of the details of his life are difficult to figure out, partly cause he was very private and partly cause he had so many rumors surrounding him. here are some of my fave facts about him:
-he was very concerned with protecting poor people, women and people of color, aka all the people most of upper class british society at the time cared the least about. he worked to reform prisons and hospitals in south africa at risk to his own career, and also improved the conditions under which poor enlisted british soldiers and their families lived
-he was kind of a known hothead. he was rumored to have fought at least one duel (probably not true though). florence nightingale hated him even though they had similar ideas about medicine because they had such a clash of personalities in the brief time they worked together
-he was a vegetarian and took a goat with him on sea voyages so he could always have fresh milk
-even though he had an abrasive personality and made a lot of enemies, his patients, especially the women, really loved him because they felt like he knew what he was doing and actually cared about their health
-he died poor because the british army ripped him off >:/
edit i almost forgot the best thing. he didn’t just have one poodle named psyche. he had a bunch. when one died he would get a new poodle and name that one psyche too
Sometimes I get so embarrassed remembering how Sherlock’s show-off urges include showing off the fact that John hangs out with him. Like as soon as Sherlock shows up anywhere he’s like, “Hello, this man is WITH ME, did everyone hear that? He is my colleague, my friend, my partner; he is FAMILY so if you want to say something to ME you have to say it to HIM because we are ALWAYS TOGETHER. He thinks my life is worth preserving, so JOT THAT DOWN. He is NOT an old man with a mustache that ages him; his RATIOS are IDEAL and he WALKS like THAT for the REASON YOU THINK. He is PERFECT at everything and he chooses to spend his time being OBSESSED with me, so everyone who has ever doubted or criticized me can EAT SHIT. THIS is the caliber of person I attract, and I have ZERO need for ANY of you or ANY of your compliments because you could NEVER understand how little they mean compared to the ones I get — CONSTANTLY! — from this outstanding man.”
And everyone is always like “uh okay sure, anyway here’s the body we called you about”
that feeling when you see someone wearing a jacket with a shit-ton of patches and you need to get closer so you can tell what type of punk they are
counterpoint: girl scouts
Are you trying to tell me that girl scouts aren’t a type of punk?
SHIT fuck you’re absolutely right
Actually, I totally have something to add to this.
So walking home from work yesterday, I passed a girl scout and her big sis selling girl guide cookies, and I was like: Score! I just got kickback money, so for once I have money on hand, and they never come to my house!
As I’m walking up, I hear the person at the door they’re currently at …let’s say he was berating the poor girl for being brown.
So when he slams the door, the little one just turns to her sis and cheerfully says something like ‘That’s another one for the list. I think he’s at least a two!’
And I’m already behind her at this point with my $10 out for two boxes of thin mints, and she’s all like ‘ah thanks!’, and I ask “What’s this list …?”
“My big sister is keeping a list here of racist fucks and she’s going to break their windows and stuff on halloween!”.
Anyways, girl scouts are precious little angels.
Oh right, this.
I checked around the dude’s house late halloween night.
All his windows were broken.
THE HEROES WE BARELY DESERVE
AHHHHH IT’S ON MY DASH AGAIN AND NOW IT’S UPDATED????? BLESSED??????
look, if you cannot be in public barefaced without being self-conscious & feeling like shit, then your decision to wear makeup is not a choice freely made
like yes lady bird was kind of a silly movie in some ways but i have been obsessed w it ever since i saw a quote from greta when she was talking about why she chose to make the movie and she’s like well go up to any woman on the street and ask her how her relationship is with her mother, and you’re never going to get a short answer bc that relationship is always complicated. like she’s so right i can’t handle it. even the people i know who are supposedly best friends w their moms also have major issues w them. and it does stem from this place of like… my mom has truly been thru it at the hands of men/patriarchal society to raise me and i will always love her for that but she is sometimes so focused on all she has sacrificed for me that she won’t let me be who i am bc she believes she deserves the exact daughter that she wants to reward her for what she’s been through. and like that’s womanhood i guess but i just can’t get over greta’s mind for calcifying that idea in a movie like lady bird thank you queen
take time to figure it out 