The Health Movement Era

Spanning from the 1830s through the 1850s, the Health Movement pulled personal health topics from the private sphere into the public sphere. The movement was viewed as a social science that could be used to explain, and prevent, reoccurring health issues that were taking their toll on society. Information on health was often provided to the public in medical and marriage texts that had connections to science and religion. The commonality of conversation about health within the public sphere improved the public’s health, happiness, and longevity. The contributions of science and religion toward understanding health, sex, and gender allowed a change in the gender expectations of men and women in the 19th century.