By: Julia Laquerre
The creation of gynecology in the 1840s was a major medical paradigm shift, that created “a new world order” (Ian Hacking) in which society felt responsible for the reproductive health of women.
This revolution in women's medical care also brought on the convention of viewing the health of the female body solely through the lens of reproduction which is a “fragmented view of women's health and women's bodies,” as described by Marcia C Inhorn in her journal article Defining Women’s Health: A Dozen Messages from More than 150 Ethnographies published by Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
Modern American gynecology originated because of James Marion Sims’ unethical experimentation on enslaved Black women. His creation of modern gynecology through the objectification of women translated into further medical neglect of women throughout history.
His practices gave life to the ideology that women's health is dependent only on their ability to reproduce, and how “medical and public health fields devoted to women's health -namely, obstetrics and gynecology and maternal and child health- literally target women as reproducers or potential reproducers.” (Inhorn 350)
Marcia C. Inhorn describes how a woman's reproductive concerns are often not prioritized by public health companies or officials. The neglect of women's health outside of reproduction by scientific establishments, doctors, the government, and society has resulted in an increased risk of other health conditions.
Before 1989, doctors and scientists did not know how different health-related procedures or conditions affected men and women differently, thus women’s medical needs were treated according to doctors' understanding of the male body. These medical practices led to the mistreatment and injury of all women.
It wasn’t until 1989 that the National Institute of Health “encouraged” researchers to include women in studies. The policy “required researchers to study how medications, procedures, and disease affected women differently than men”, Nancy Lee explains in her journal article Progress in Women’s Health: 1985-2015.
The shift in the government's and medical professionals' thinking gave way to a new understanding of women's health.
New Wave feminism and the (general) receptiveness of this new way of thinking was another major paradigm shift in the way many women (and feminists) thought about women’s medical needs. Only “a revolution in ideas, knowledge, and research projects (will change) one’s version of the kind of world in which we live.” (Ian Hacking) People were becoming aware of the fact “women (were) rarely the ones to set the boundaries of the discussions surrounding the identification and definition of their health problems.” (Inhorn)
Over the last 20 years, major shifts in thinking have led to new and necessary research regarding women's health.
However, medical misinformation rooted in the unethical history of female health continues to have detrimental effects on women. The recent overturn of Roe v. Wade is an example of the danger of inaccurate and insufficient information known about the female body. The mentality of women's health as solely related to reproduction continues to harm women.
Sources:
Inhorn, Marcia C. “Defining Women’s Health: A Dozen Messages from More than 150 Ethnographies.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 3, 2006, pp. 345–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3840533. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023.
Kuhn, Thomas S., and Ian Hacking. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The University of Chicago Press, 2012.
Lee, Nancy C. “PROGRESS IN WOMEN’S HEALTH: 1985-2015.” Public Health Reports (1974-), vol. 130, no. 2, 2015, pp. 121–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43775462. Accessed 9 Feb. 2023.
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