Ancient Greek physician Agnodice disguised herself as a man to practice medicine in Athens around the 4th century BCE because women were legally forbidden from entering the medical profession under penalty of death.

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Ancient Greek physician Agnodice disguised herself as a man to practice medicine in Athens around the 4th century BCE because women were legally forbidden from entering the medical profession under penalty of death. She became so incredibly popular among female patients, who knew her secret, that the jealous male doctors accused her of seducing the women of the city. When she revealed her true gender in court to beat the adultery charges, they immediately tried to execute her for practicing medicine, until a mob of furious female patients stormed the trial and forced the judges to acquit her and change the law. The patriarchy was so incredibly threatened by a competent woman providing basic healthcare that they nearly killed her, proving that women's medical rights have essentially been an exhausting uphill battle for over two thousand years