Gender Stereotyping & Women's Health: Examining the Link - Essay Sample

Introduction

The aim and objective of the essay are to understand the truth behind the belief that gender stereotyping and medicalization has any impact on the health of women. Feminist believes that health inequalities are one of the central problems in public health where women have been discriminated based on their gender. The essay aims to examine the connection between gender, disadvantages, and health basing the argument in the distribution of power in public health through policymaking and program delivery. One of the dominant themes in feminist bioethics is the concern about inequalities in the health sector, which Sherwin, in his journal try to explain (Sherwin, 2018 p. 52). This is on the view that all people should be treated equally regardless of the gender type. The object of the topic is to look at various historical inequalities that had an impact on women's health and made women not to receive the best medical attention.

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Medicalization is where non-medical problems are considered and treated as medical problems often requiring medical treatment. Medicalization effects result in social consequences such as pathologization of human differences and individualization of social issues. The issue of medicalization, according to Moynihan and Cassels, is usually escalated by drug companies who come up with drugs that intend to promulgate the idea that pregnancy, PMS, and menopause are disease requiring treatment (Moynihan, Cassels 2005 p 6). Medicalization may reduce social discrimination where women who are going through their natural non-medical problems may face stigmatization, yet what they are experiencing is not a disease but their natural way of life.

A gender stereotype is a preconceived belief and idea where females and males are given different roles and characteristics based and limited by their gender. Gender stereotypes can be a personal belief concerning gender differences in traits and behavior, which is attributed to socialization. Women are usually the people who are faced with the problem of stereotyping in the society and working environment, and they are considered inferior when it comes to various types of works due to their physical appearance, traits, behavior. Gender stereotyping usually limit the development of the natural talents and ability of women where their education and professional experience are under threat. Gender justice, according to Tong and Williams, should be the way of life, and discrimination of women should be avoided as much as possible (Tong, Williams 2018 p 234). Stereotyping is used to justify the relation of men's power over women and the sexist attitude that hold the advancement of women. Gender stereotypes can be very harmful when it is used to limit women's capability to develop their abilities concerning their professional careers.

There is a historical, societal belief that women are sickly and weaker people who are not supported to get involved in the various role, and their only work is to look after the family. Even though there are biological differences between men and women, their social work, according to Marmot in his journal, is constructed based on their biological difference, which should not be the case (Marmot 2004 p. 6). There is legal injustice on the weaker sex, which is intensive, and wives and daughters are considered to be obedient. This can be observed by the type of job that is regarded as for women, such as typists, nursing air hostesses, and cooking. However, it doesn't mean that women cannot perform other jobs that are perceived to belong to men, such as engineers and the country's leader (Doyal, 2019 p. 5). There even some women who have been offered to do these kinds of jobs, and they have proven to perform them even better than the men counterpart.

The history of the societal belief about women can sometimes be traced with psychiatry who described as a particularly sexist science and contributed in the past derogatory discourses on the inferiority of what is refers as the weaker sex. Throughout history, especially in dominant societies, women's natural life is seen as totally different from men's and hence considered to be inferior and deviant (Thomas, 2016 p. 109). This concept of abnormal is associated with their difference in female biological organs, such as reproductive processes. Since the female body organ is the one that is connected to cause deviance, then itself became the site for the treatment. The doctors were hospitalizing those women whom they considered to be abnormal and dared to rebel against male desires. However, not all physicians accepted the theory about women's mental inferiority, and some of these theories were even contested by women patients themselves. Evolutionary alienists believed due to the fact that women possessed uterus and the brain short of a few hundred grams, the existence of these attributes in them is what defined the primary characteristic of a woman (Angel, 2017 p.19). Following their reasoning, it would mean that the sole purpose of females was only to bear children, and their brain was only suited to help them in those efforts. To break these terminologies, men considered this as an abuse of the fundamental nature of a woman's body and mind. Any woman who manifested the behavior of lack of modesty was deemed to be sick; hence was taken for treatment failure to this her own health and children could be compromised. Taking these women to hospital for the disease that they didn't have was medicalization, and it harmed their health.

Medicalization has been in existence in the history of the health sector, where women had been facing treatment for non-medical problems such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause (Laura 2014 p. 12). Its effect had a negative impact, mainly when it was used as a tool for social control. This happens when there is natural variation in life-based on biological differences between men and women. When differences in inclinations and self-expression within women are medicalized, societal problems may follow. Pregnancies, which is a natural life of women, were seen by counter men as a disease and drugs to treat it was even manufactured. The effects of these drugs are that even the baby was born medicated, which also made their delivery to be a problem, and women had to be aided using forceps. Medical procedures in women such as hysterectomies and tubal litigation were performed in women without their consensus, which undermined their health rights. It has nowadays become a norm for women to go through medicalization, and they have to go through physicians before they deliver.

Menstruation is another non-medical problem which has been considered as a medical issue and treated like a disease. It is well known that the menstruation of women begins during puberty, and people believe that it should take a cycle of 28 days. The 28 days is a misleading myth since scientific menstruation can take 24 to 37 days. When women experience menstruation beyond the 28 days myth, they mistakenly consider it to be a health problem that needs to be treated (Willis, 2017 p. 13). They become worried about their health and seek medical attention. In return, instead of the doctor who is experienced to guide them on the actual menstruation cycle, they medicalize what is a natural physiological phenomenon and treat the so-called problem with a drug that tends to regularize the period to 28 days. Some medications, such as birth control pills, are used to manage menstruation. However, these drugs have severely adverse effects on women, and they may affect their health.

Early puberty in girls is a condition that goes through medicalization, where girls who begin it are often made to worry about the situation. This is a misguided judgment by their mother, who did not commence menstruation until they were around the age of 15 to 16 years of age. Scientist through research believes that early menstruation is not a medical problem but is an issue that comes as a result of dietary. High-fat diets and estrogen are commonly associated with the first commencement of menstruation (Northrup, 2013 p. 10). Treating this non-medical condition can have a future negative impact on the health of women, and these drugs may affect their health conditions.

Early and late menopause is considered to be a health problem by some people. It is advised that actual menopause is a deficiency problem requiring the replacements of hormones for women to remain healthy and increase their life expectance. Treatment of this post-menopause, according to Isabel journal, is done through therapies that have an impact on the health of women (Isabel, 2018 p. 6). The medicalization of menopause exposes women to known and unknown risks that may have a future complication on their health.

Medicalization and stereotyping of women have adversely affected the health of women in several ways. Stereotyping in women, according to Vicki Meyer, impedes them to access essential reproductive health care, which contributes to inequality (Vicki, 1997 p. 18). Stereotypes in society can affect the mental health of women and can make them struggle much, trying to be part of the culture. Women are perceived to put on makeup and be presentable within the society (Ashton, Laura 2017 p. 18). For them to try in conforming to these norms, it might be difficult for them, which would cause a mental challenge that may affect their health condition. Putting a lot of pressure on women only to do specific jobs and avoid others may make them feel not worthy, which might lead to depression. Health policies are implemented by politicians and leaders who are working in these sectors (Sen, George 2002, p. 13). If women have been stereotype and are not support to lead these institutions, then it will be challenging to have someone to speak for them and implement those policies that concern them.

Medicalization can have adverse effects on women's health in general, and according to Hofmann, the condition can be termed as overdiagnosis (Hofmann, 2013, p. 9). The situation can be seen as forcing unnecessary medicine into women's lives that the body does not need. Medicalization will put women on unknown risks that might occur in the future, and tracing these problems may be difficult.

Conclusion

The health of women might be put into a threat if necessary measures are not put in place to control the medicalization and stereotyping of women. Every person should be offered an equal opportunity in society without discrimination on the bases of gender. If women have professional capability to perform various tasks, stereotyping them should not take place since it would undermine their professionalism and effort to be equal with men. Feminist believes and recognize the need for them to engage in politics for them to be able to implement those health policies that affect them. If they are not offered the opportunity, then their health issue is left without being addressed. The non-medical condition should not be subjected to treatment since they have a history of negatively undermining the health of women. Medicalization of women's health has been taken as an income-generating process where doctors use it to generate cash through the selling of these medicines and treating the patient. It is, therefore, not wrong to conclude that medicalization and stereotype harm the health of women and their lives.

References

Angel, K., 2017. Journal on Feminist critique on medicalization and stereotype. New York: Oxford University.

Ashton, J.F., Laura, R.S., 2017 “The Life Enhancement Handbook." New York City, NY, USA

Doyal, L., 2019...