Sociomedical aspects of women's life in Serbia during XX century

Abstract

According to the patriarchal heritage, the traditional role of women in the house existed with triple function: a mother, a housewife, and female workforce. Description of the social position of women in urban and rural areas in Serbia clearly indicates that it was not easy to live and work as a woman. The life and health of women were endangered by the births that occurred in the home and especially illegal abortions that are performed without the presence of a doctor, carried out by persons that were not professional, even in advanced stages of pregnancy. A woman was left in 'inferior position': woman the private sphere and the public man, woman, birth and family, man occupation, policies and creation, man glory and knowledge, woman, work, and monotony. In the first years after the Second World War, one of the important indicators of the status of women in Serbia is related to the level of health care women, pregnant women, mothers and children. Health education of women was related to health and the fight against ignorance and poor hygiene habits in the backward and patriarchal environments. In the early postwar years, special attention was focused on health education of rural women. In the last decade of the twentieth century, the life and health situation of women and mothers deteriorated due to a multi-year economic crisis in Serbia.