Feminism in Health Care

...

is an illness, giving birth is an illness, and going through menopause is an illness, which is not necessarily the case. All these examples stated are socially constructed inequalities against women. A health care provider cannot be ill but since a women is “always” ill, she cannot be a health care provider.

Another interesting perspective taken to devalue women as health care practitioners is through the patriarchal society. The socially constructed male-dominated society we have built has pushed the females out of the health care division or have reduced their status. The caring dilemma is an interesting way of looking and defining females in health care. It is used to describe the devaluing of the care that nurses provide socially and financially in a society. Since caring is considered to be part of a women’s role as a wife and mother, it is not a hidden skill that is worthy of professional status. The male power in a patriarchal society is longstanding and therefore, there is nothing natural about the relegation of nurses. Not only is the relegation of female care providers highlighted but there has also been a notable decline of midwifery in North America.

It is stated that the ability to carry out production and exchange is a requirement to succeed in our socially constructed world. As Karl Marx states, there is a division of labor due to the fact that there is variance in work between social classes, leading to gender classification (i.e. men over women). As a result, females rely completely on the work of male health care providers, therefore, halting the process of production.

The influence of media goes unnoticed in many cases, although it greatly impacts our society. Women in media are viewed implicitly as passive, submissive characters who do not have a say in society. This is viewed through many commercials where the females’ mouths are covered by choice or forcefully covered while showing their innocent-looking eyes. In some cases, they are tied up in bondage baring a lot of skin in sexual positions for perfume, clothing, etc. advertisements and commercials, with men holding the dominant position in each frame. This impacts how women are viewed in the professional health care community. They are downgraded and ignored as valuable members who can have a positive effect in the health care industry. Men are considered greatly above females, therefore, dominating the health care profession.

The development and establishment of public policies made by the government can positively influence the female society to become active members in the health care industry as health care providers. The government influences the connection between communities and regularly assesses the well-being of their citizens. With the establishment of public policies, the social inequality within and among the gendered social classes will diminish.

Women are viewed in light of health, illness, and health care more explicitly than males whether coming from the provider or recipient aspect for care. Therefore, females playing the roles of health care providers is disregarded and underestimated. Taking this from a materialistic approach, the reason behind why this social inequality is occurring can be argued to be due to the fact that it is the result of the conflict-based society instead of consensus-based.

...