Humanist scholars and physicians during the Renaissance translated and printed ancient Greek and Roman texts on gynecology, including discussions of menstruation, alongside new anatomical studies. While still rooted in humoralism, this era saw increased midwifery manuals and some challenge to extreme taboos, though secrecy persisted. It coincided with broader scientific inquiry.

The era's emphasis on the body influenced metaphysical poetry and sonnets exploring love, fertility, and mortality (e.g., Donne, Shakespeare). Women writers like Margaret Cavendish engaged with scientific ideas, using poetry to question gendered medical paradigms and assert intellectual equality, foreshadowing later feminist literary reclamations of bodily knowledge.