Gender inequality goes beyond the pay gap, sexual harassment or workplace discrimination; medical discrimination is often a topic that is frequently overlooked.
The American healthcare system has been developed by men,for men which is extremely apparent in doctors offices today. A 2018 study found that doctors viewed men experiencing chronic pain to be “brave” while women who were experiencing the same chronic pain were “hysterical” and “dramatic.”
Historically, female patients reporting any type of medical issue were prescribed extended periods of enforced bedrest and those who did not respond to the treatment as expected were deemed difficult and hysterical.
Medical research in the United States has overwhelmingly favored males for decades. Before 1993, women were rarely included in clinical trials or any other sort of medical research, putting women at risk for worsened health conditions.
The gender gap in medical treatment between male and female patients paired with overarching misogyny results in real life harm to women. Formally known as the “Yentl Syndrome,” a female patient must prove herself to be equally unwell as her male counterpart in order for her illness to be taken seriously. The need for female patients to prove themselves unwell results in delayed care and worsening side effects.
Senior Ayah Alsheikha has taken notice of the discrepancy between genders in the medical field. “It is extremely disarming that nearly all clinical trials use the white male as the standard for humans. The female and male bodies are so entirely different, and the fact that the medical field’s years of research and invention does not reflect this is a threat to women and minorities everywhere” expressed Alsheikha.
During medical studies the male body is seen as typical while the female body has been viewed as atypical while conducting research. Male subjects have been prioritized because they do not have menstrual cycles and thus cannot become pregnant making them the “ideal” subject.
This begins at the testing stage before human test subjects are used. Rats are commonly used test subjects however, female rats are hardly used. Many scientists avoided using female rat test subjects because of greater costs with purchasing and taking care of both sexes. Concerns of fluctuating hormones and reproductive systems of the female mice are said to “confuse” the results. Rather than studying both sexes, scientists opted for the easiest option.
Anatomy teacher Craig Parker comments on medical research. “Some research conducted on the male body as a subject can be applied to the female body, however the two aren’t interchangeable with one another, said Parker.”
The physiological, metabolic, hormonal and cellular differences between males and females result in differences of how effective medical treatments are. However, men have been the main test subject for the majority of medical testing, which results in a lack of research and extremely limited understanding of female health.
“When conducting medical studies it is important to consider that the male physiology is very different from the female physiology. So much so the symptoms for certain medical conditions manifest themselves differently in female bodies than they do in male bodies” Parker continued.
The lack of understanding creates inaccuracies in the treatment of female patients and can make medicine less effective for women, as considerable as women receiving detrimental side effects from medication two times more than men.
As a result, women are less likely to be diagnosed with diseases.12% of Alzheimer’s research focuses on women, whilst women make up a staggering two-thirds of people diagnosed with Alzheimers. Moreover, the greatest cause of death of women in the United States is cardiovascular disease, but only 4% of the National Institute of Health’s cardiac artery disease research solely focuses on females and only a third of patients in cardiovascular disease clinical trials are female.
The lack of diagnosis expands past diseases primarily impacting adults. Diagnosis of ADHD shows significant differences in understanding of how ADHD shows in females. When someone is asked what signs of ADHD are, most people think of hyperactivity, but those are primarily male symptoms. Females typically show ADHD symptoms through inattentiveness rather than hyperactivity.
As a result, most males are diagnosed with ADHD during childhood while women aren’t until adulthood.
These issues are not only present for women battling illness or diagnoses, but are present daily in the lives of all women.
Women are put at higher risk than men on a daily basis. Men are 37% more likely to be involved in a car crash than women. However, women are 47% more likely to become seriously injured from a car accident, 71% more likely to become moderately injured and 17% more likely to die in a car crash than men. This is the result of the historical usage of dummies averaging five-feet-eight, the average male height, and 167 pounds.
With the average woman standing at five-foot-four, this puts women at a significantly higher risk of a car related injury. This standard is also implemented in car seats. Since women are typically shorter than men, they are further back in their seats instead of the “normal seating position” an individual should be in regarding safety measures.
Not only are women at a higher risk because of gender bias, but women’s healthcare is severely underfunded. A 2021 study found that twice as much funding goes to diseases that disproportionately affect men in comparison to women.
Despite extensive measures enacted, women still remain second-class citizens in the medical field.
