This one is catching up a bit.
Sometimes when you look around you find an interesting picture, and run with it, later discovering that the subject matter of the original picture was controversial. Well, I've got 4 manips based on this one so I'm proceeding anyway, with some explanation.
J. Marion Sims was a mid 19th century pioneer of modern gynaecology, developing several important surgical procedures. Unfortunately, he used slave women to practice on, and operated in a period prior to the general use of anesthesia.
I am going to let you do your own research, dear reader, and come to your own conclusions. I have taken a mid 20th century painting by Robert Thom of Sims and 3 of the women, Lucy, Anarcha and Betsey, and changed it to fit my own imagination. Here's the original
ph404 - the lady of the house is expecting, and her husband wants her to be well monitored in these final days, he is expecting an heir! Here she is ready for her examination, witnessed by her husband, her brother and her maids. She doesn't seem upset by the attention.
ph405 - This could be an earlier stage of the previous story, or perhaps just the eminent gynaecologist moving on to practise on white subjects (which he did, after all). The lady is ready for her intimate examination, in the presence of several witnesses.
ph406 - The doctors here are interested to observe the sexual interaction of a white woman and a black man, all in the ineterest of scientific advancement of course. The subject looks a little unsure about what is coming.
ph421 - The doctor here is studying the effects of sexual intercourse and arousal on the female body. He is observing proceedings with interest, and is ready for the intimate examination that will follow.