The Medicine Woman of Galveston

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, illness, death, substance use, sexual content, sexual violence, rape, ableism, racism.

“She’d forgotten how it felt to be around these sorts of men, their hubris and self-importance wafting off them like cologne. She’d been that way once, too, though everyone was quick to remind her how ill-suited the scent was on a woman.”

Tucia attends a talk given by Dr. Addams and reflects on the self-importance emanating from the other attendees, all men. The Workplace Challenges Faced by Women is a central theme in the book, and Tucia’s personal experiences with discrimination and abuse in the medical field embody some of these challenges. This passage hints at Tucia’s past working in the hospital, and how she faced gendered and stereotypical notions about women in the field.

“Dr. John Langdon Down believed children like him had dampened and defective emotionality. That the more advanced of them were merely mimics. And it was true Toby looked to her for emotional cues. He laughed when she laughed. Smiled when she smiled. Frowned when she was stern or upset. But it wasn’t mere mimicry. He might not always have the words to express himself, but he had a sense—better than anyone she’d known—of what others were feeling.”

Tucia reflects on how she believes Dr. Down’s work on people with Toby’s condition—Down syndrome—is flawed. Tucia’s desire to dismantle the prevalent and limiting stereotypes about people with Down syndrome is motivated by her love for her child and her desire for him to have a good life. Her experience with Toby’s condition also predisposes her to view other biological conditions with curiosity rather than judgment. In this way, Tucia’s perspective helps shape the theme of Examining and Dismantling Stereotypes and Prejudice.

“Poorhouse inmates were branded drunkards, idlers, and incorrigible sinners. Tucia had thought so herself before she’d learned how savage life could be.”

Tucia balks at the idea that she may have to go to the “poorhouse,” reflecting on the stereotypes associated with people who inhabit such spaces. Tucia’s own difficult circumstances have allowed her to gain greater empathy for those viewed negatively in society.