Alison M Downham Moore

Professor of History and Medical Humanities, Western Sydney University, Australia

Alison M Downham Moore is professor of history and medical humanities at Western Sydney University in Australia and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Australian Feminist Studies. Her books include Sexing Political Culture in the History of France (2012); Sexual Myths of Modernity: Sadism, Masochism and Historical Teleology (2016); and The French Invention of Menopause and the Medicalisation of Women’s Ageing: A History (2022).

Written by Alison M Downham Moore

A painting of a woman in 18th-century attire with a large hairstyle holding a letter, seated with a dark background.

THE BODY AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution

French doctors of the 1800s had a vested interest in pathologising women’s ageing, as do many commercial entities today

by Alison M Downham Moore

Medieval manuscript illustration of a mandrake plant with human features, surrounded by handwritten text.

SEX AND SEXUALITY

A long history of aphrodisiacs, from health tonic to sexual aid

Long before Viagra, people around the world and throughout history used aphrodisiacs to boost health and improve fertility

by Alison M Downham Moore