Women Of The Medical Field

There has always been a stigma surrounding the topic of women’s health, especially the reproductive kind, as the world has set standards for a how a woman’s body should be. The stigma begins where, unfortunately for the world, women’s bodies oftentimes do not comply with these standards. Because of the rifts between expectation and reality girls are shamed, oftentimes unconsciously or via systemic responses and interactions. It becomes an ingrained and understood conduct, teaching girls that their bodies exist for objective purposes, and it lays the foundation for developing insecurities. Bodily insecurities tend to run so deeply that even women in adulthood shy away from taking proper care of themselves. Because of how taboo discussing women’s

It is clear by reviewing the article that the author is very much concerned with the well-being of women at this particular time. She mentions that some “doctors showed themselves more interested in protecting themselves than in caring for their patient.” McLaren also goes into detail with examples to show how the doctors would threaten their patients. Like for instance, Stewart Murrow threatened his dying patient Jennie Young that he would not treat her for septic poisoning if she didn’t name the person who performed the operation. Another case is the Sarah Robins affair where she was stimulated with drugs so as to declare the person who performed the operation. Some doctors saw themselves as the authorities. If a woman were dying in a hospital as the result of a bungled abortion, a statement was taken if only to protect the doctor and the hospital staff. This is why McLaren feels it wasn’t fair for women that doctors were too concerned for their reputation rather than the women who needed their help. McLaren also argues that methods of contraception were very expensive, for example the condom.

In the 1800’s women were not allowed to voice their opinion regarding their medical treatment. It was unheard of for a women to voice her opinion or go against her husband judgement. If a women did speak out they were deemed crazy and often institutionalized. During this time men were the dominant forces and a husband, father ,or brother could have a

• The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: It's a girl.

There are 33 sources, of which 26 were cited in the review. The researchers used 18 primary sources from reputable medical and nursing journals. This strengthened the quality of the review as primary sources are the most reliable and are expansive and impartial (Polit & Beck, 2010, p. 171). The article was accepted in 2009 and out of the 18 primary sources, 15 were over the recommended period of 3 to 5 years (Houser, 2008, p. 139). This was justified when the researchers pointed out the limited studies done on women's experiences and perceptions. There is also 1 source from 1962 but this is exceptional as it as a seminal work (Houser, 2008, p. 139).

Doctors’ view is also very much negative about abortion. A study was conducted by the Journal of Medical Ethics on 733 medical students about abortion. The outcome of the survey revealed that almost 1/3 of students would not perform an abortion for a congenitally malformed fetus after 24 weeks, 1∕4 of them would not perform an abortion for failed contraception before 24 weeks and 1/5 of them would not perform an abortion on a minor who was the victim of rape. (Campbell,

Within the last century, there have been many strides in terms of women’s rights- the right to vote, a place in the work force, the ability to have control over their bodies- but that has not always been the case. Throughout the numerous works we’ve read so far, one theme that stuck out to me more than once is the role that doctors and the medical field play in terms of female subordination. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Maria Cristina Mena’s “The Vine Leaf,” doctors and medical practices have influence over the way we perceive a female’s place in society. The portrayal of these themes are slightly different between the two works, but both provide examples of women in places of inferiority. The doctors in

Men’s and women’s health and healthcare have been plagued by serious issues in the United States for generations. The articles Men at War: Vietnam and Agent Orange by Cynthia R. Daniels, Masculinities and Men’s Health: Moving toward Post-Superman Era Prevention by Don Sabo, Health Care Reform-A Woman’s Issue by Catherine DeLorey, and Why the Precautionary Principle? A Meditation of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and the Breasts of Mothers by Sandra Steingraber, all center around different issues in healthcare. All the articles focus on the problems of healthcare and how it should be reformed, but two take on the topic of women’s health, while the other two focus their articles on men’s healthcare.

The commonly held theories that women are inferior to men, because they lack the strength of character, mind, and body that men are attributed to having, are misleading for many reasons. To assume that men are superior in these three aspects is to assume that all men and women equally share the same strengths and weaknesses of their entire sex. To do this one must accept the fact that all

Throughout history, only men were used for research subjects, and it was assumed that the female anatomy was essentially the same as men, not including reproductive organs. Because of this, clinical trials were male centric, and women were not well represented in research; therefore, women’s health and

The most controversial field of feminist’s actions is women’s rights to the control over their bodies with respect to fertility, sexual relationships, rape and medical power over women’s health. Male control over women’s bodies has also traditionally expressed itself through

Women make up just slightly over half the U.S population (US Census Bureau, 2010) and should not be even considered a part of a minority group. The female population should acquire the same equal research attention as men do, especially when it comes to health issues. The unavoidable, yet quite simple realities of breastfeeding, menstruation, menopause, along with pregnancy require special scrutiny from medical experts. Those medical specialties are generally referred as gynecologists or obstetrics, who focus on the exclusive needs of a female’s reproductive health throughout their lifespan. Historically, the health needs of women have been disregarded as well as their fundamental rights. However, over the past few decades, it has grabbed the media and the government’s attention causing some major changes in support of women’s rights and health care.

Although cancer affects the population as a whole, the past has proven women had a disadvantage when seeking cancer treatment. Despite scientific improvements in treating women's cancers, environmental justice continues to cause gaps in seeking adequate cancer treatment. Until women's equality issues improve, women will continue to fall at a disadvantage. We must empower women, through education, to make better, conscious decisions about their own health and cancer treatment. We must continue efforts to better reach women of lower SES, encourage cultural sensitivity within the health profession, and finally, change society's perception of women's body parts.

Women presently face multiple challenges in the healthcare system. Things such as research androcentrism, medicalization, and gender stereotyping are all things women must overcome in today’s society. Research androcentrism or male centeredness in the field of health care is used to describe how men are used as a baseline for medical research and standards of care (Shaw & Lee 368). By using only men, generally white men, as a baseline for research, the effects of drugs and procedures are not adequately studied; a lack of research on other groups of people, specifically women, can prove to be dangerous because certain drugs may affect women differently than men. Another challenge pertaining to research androcentrism is the fact that women are not always included in clinical trials (Shaw & Lee 368). Until recently, the biological differences

Many women that choose to have an abortion do not realize that it is a dangerous surgery with serious side effects. These side effects are both physical and psychological. Having an abortion is unnatural and interrupts this function of the human body. “The women’s body naturally resists the abortion, causing physical and emotional problems” (“Who does Abortion Affect?”). Almost all of the women who had abortions feel that they have made the wrong decision. The women are not informed about the side effects of abortion. Many women that had abortions said their doctors gave “little or no information about the potential health risks