18 Nov Do assumptions about gender inform the beliefs and practices relating to medical care (or lack of care)?
Order Instructions
This week, we’ll continue our exploration of Jenny Brown’s ‘Birth Strike’ thesis, paying particular attention to the contradictory rhetoric and policies that accompany historical and ongoing arguments concerning reproduction. From there, we will investigate a provocative ethnographic case study of fetal surgery, using this example to reflect some of the thorny methodological issues involved with the study and reporting of controversial scientific and technological issues. After our second midterm (details in class!), we’ll then turn our attention towards the Ehrenreich and English text ‘Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness.’
The following are some points for consideration as we continue our deep dive into the intersection of science/medicine & politics/society:
1.Do assumptions about gender inform the beliefs and practices relating to medical care (or lack of care)?
2.Can we think of examples where gender has influenced – positively or negatively – the particular diagnosis and/or treatment provided to an individual or group of individuals in the realm of medicine? (No need to disclose personal information here!! Examples should be of a more general variety.)
3.How do assumptions about race, ethnicity, and class intersect with assumptions about gender in the realm of medicine?
4.Are there medical ideas, medical practices, or medical values that could/should be different than they are right now?
5.Are there ideas, practices and/or values in the medical field that we might like to see implemented, discarded, reformed, etc.?
