The Feminist Perspective (AQA A-Level Sociology): Revision Notes
The Feminist Perspective
The feminist perspective provides a critical lens through which to examine the medical profession, highlighting how gender shapes both healthcare delivery and professional structures. This approach emphasises two key areas: the historical and ongoing male dominance within medicine, and the way patriarchal attitudes influence patient care, particularly for women.
Historical exclusion of women from medicine
The feminist perspective draws attention to the systematic exclusion of women from medical practice throughout history. This exclusion was not accidental but deliberate, rooted in patriarchal control over professional knowledge and practice.
In the UK, women were legally prohibited from practising medicine until 1885. This exclusion occurred as scientific medicine developed, with many countries formally declaring it illegal for women to train as doctors. Women's healthcare roles became limited to domestic care and positions subordinate to the expanding male medical establishment.
The timing of women's exclusion from medicine coincided with the professionalisation and formalisation of medical practice, suggesting that this exclusion was strategically implemented to maintain male control over the emerging medical profession.
Anne Witz (1992) examined how the male medical profession in Britain strategically excluded women by raising university entry requirements. Even when women gained access to medical education, they faced continued discrimination. Male colleagues used their institutional power to prevent women from accessing the systematic training and testing needed for full medical practice.
Gender discrimination in medical practice
Contemporary research reveals that gender bias continues to affect medical practice, influencing how patients are treated based on their sex.
Arber et al (2006) conducted research demonstrating that patient gender still influences doctors' diagnostic and treatment decisions. Their findings showed that compared to male patients, women received:
- Fewer questions during consultations
- Fewer physical examinations
- Fewer diagnostic tests for chronic heart disease (CHD)
The researchers identified "gendered ageism" as a particular problem, with middle-aged women receiving the least appropriate medication and fewest questions regarding CHD symptoms.
This research demonstrates that gender discrimination in healthcare is not merely historical but continues to affect patient care today, with potentially serious consequences for women's health outcomes.
Professional socialisation and stereotyping
Feminists argue that medical education perpetuates gender stereotypes that affect patient care. During medical school, new doctors develop preconceived notions about certain conditions being predominantly "feminine," including depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and migraines.
This socialisation process contributes to the over-prescription of tranquillisers to women, with the majority of recipients being working-class housewives diagnosed as "clinically depressed." Feminists contend that this medicalises women's genuine dissatisfaction with their social circumstances, transforming legitimate concerns about relationships, childcare, and workplace inequalities into individual medical problems.
The concept of medicalisation suggests that social problems are being reframed as individual medical issues, potentially obscuring the need for broader social and structural changes to address women's concerns.
Medicalisation of women's bodies
A central feminist argument concerns how the medical profession has gained control over natural female processes. Feminists argue that this control shifted historically from the church to the medical profession, with natural processes like menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause becoming medicalised.
Ann Oakley (1993) noted that "by the 1950s pregnancy had become a fully medicalised condition." This medicalisation serves to expand the medical profession's market control. A particularly striking example is that approximately 85% of obstetricians and gynaecologists in the UK are male, despite these specialties focusing on uniquely female experiences.
The male dominance in obstetrics and gynaecology raises questions about whether male practitioners can fully understand and appropriately respond to uniquely female experiences and concerns.
Contemporary gender patterns in medicine
Recent statistics reveal changing gender patterns within the medical profession, though these changes are occurring more slowly in senior positions than might be expected.
General Medical Council data (April 2014) showed:
- 56.1% of all registered doctors are male
- 43.9% are female
- Among specialists: 68.1% male, 31.9% female
- In general practice: 50.9% male, 49.1% female
The profession has experienced a "genderquake" with 57% of medical students now being women. However, feminists point out that women have represented over 50% of medical students since 1991, suggesting the impact on senior positions should have been greater by now.
The slow progression of women into senior medical positions despite their majority in medical education suggests that structural barriers continue to limit women's advancement in the medical profession.
Female doctors' career patterns
Research indicates that female doctors often make different career choices than their male colleagues. Many prefer roles that allow patient interaction while offering more predictable working hours compatible with family life.
Female doctors commonly choose:
- General practice
- Paediatrics
- Psychiatry
- Public health
In contrast, fewer women enter surgery or cardiology. Among female consultants, only 8% are surgeons, while most work in paediatrics or public health.
These career patterns may reflect both personal preferences for work-life balance and potential structural barriers that make certain specialties less accessible or appealing to women with family responsibilities.
Contemporary challenges and examples
The medicalisation critique gained prominence through real-world examples that highlighted concerns about medical authority and patient autonomy.
Real-World Case: Southern General Hospital Glasgow (2012)
In 2012, the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow was accused of "bullying" a mother into accepting antibiotics she neither wanted nor needed during labour. The case highlighted concerns that social services might remove her child if she refused medical intervention.
This example demonstrates how medical authority can potentially override patient autonomy, particularly affecting women during vulnerable moments like childbirth.
The president of the Royal College of Midwives acknowledged in the film Freedom for Birth (2012) that healthcare systems often "encourage unnecessary interventions or interferences in birth."
Critique of the feminist perspective on the medical profession
While the feminist perspective offers valuable insights, several criticisms have been raised that challenge its conclusions and implications.
The approach may overstate the case against male doctors, as not all male practitioners exhibit discriminatory attitudes. Many male doctors demonstrate empathy, care, and non-judgemental approaches to female patients.
Some argue that women actually benefit from medical technology and interventions. The demand for caesarean sections, for instance, demonstrates that many women value the security and convenience that medical technology provides.
Critical Considerations:
The feminist perspective may obscure genuine medical needs by focusing too heavily on social explanations. While social factors like poverty, housing, and relationships affect health, some conditions require medical rather than social interventions.
Additionally, concerns about professional power and influence have emerged. Dame Carol Black, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, warned that increasing female dominance in medicine might result in the profession losing power and influence, comparing it to the decline in teaching's status as it became female-dominated.
Key Points to Remember:
- The feminist perspective highlights both historical exclusion of women from medicine and ongoing gender discrimination in patient care
- Research demonstrates that female patients receive different treatment than male patients, including fewer diagnostic tests and questions
- Natural female processes like pregnancy and childbirth have become increasingly medicalised under male professional control
- While women now comprise 57% of medical students, senior positions remain male-dominated, particularly in surgical specialties
- Female doctors often choose career paths that allow better work-life balance, concentrating in general practice, paediatrics, and public health rather than surgery