Gender in medicine — does it matter?

Abstract

Aims: A broad range of socio-cultural issues have been recognized as determinants for health and disease. A notion of gender neutrality is still alive in the medical culture, suggesting that gender issues are not relevant within this field. Methods: We have explored the claim that doctors encounter their patients as human beings, not as men or women, and discuss causes and consequences of such a claim. Results: Empirical evidence does not support such a claim — gender seems to have a strong impact on medical knowledge and practice. The concept andronormativity signifies a state of affairs where male values are regarded as normal to the extent that female values disappear or need to be blatantly highlighted in order to be recognized. We have applied this frame of reference to understand how the idea of gender neutrality has been established in medicine. The average medical practitioner, teacher, or researcher is a man. We suggest that notions of normality subtly construct gender in medicine in ways where men become normal, while women become deviant. Finally, we discuss strengths and pitfalls of three different strategies which have been used by gender researchers in health to challenge andronormativity: demonstrating gender differences, revealing the consequences of gendered power inequalities, and deconstructing the meaning of gender. Conclusions: We conclude that gender still matters in medicine.