WGSS News Digest 300: The Carol Downer Edition


February 7, 2025

Carol Downer

Carol Downer of the Feminist Women’s Health Center in 1992. (Image Credit: The New York Times)

In this news digest, we share the amazing faculty accomplishments, including presenting research and participating in a school-wide panel! Furthermore, we highlight a student-led discussion event on International Feminist Solidarity, led by WGSS MA student Yaprak Eris, and the topics that were explored during it. Additionally, we want to highlight some WGSS-related events in the D.C. area, such as Humanities on the Hill: Mary Beard & Chris Celenza on Tuesday, February 25th.

For the news piece of this digest, we wanted to remember Carol Downer, a prominent leader in the feminist women’s health movement, who passed away on January 13th. She was charged with practicing medicine without a license by performing abortions in a much safer, quicker, and easier way, as well as treating yeast infections with yogurt. Her innovative methods for treating women's health helped her gain national attention, which she employed to popularize women's clinics, as well as to help others fight for the elimination of gender bias in medicine.