Overlooked and Underserved: The Crisis in Women's Health

By Tvisha Reikhy

If you were to ask any woman if they ever experienced “gaslighting” when it comes to their healthcare, over 51% of them would say yes. Throughout history, women’s health has frequently been under-researched and underdiagnosed. One statistic shows that when a woman walks into the ER with “stomach pain,” she has to wait 33% as long to see a doctor because it is often dismissed as “premenstrual/menstrual cramps”. When a woman walks into the ER with chest pain, she is often dismissed as just being anxious and “overeacting.” In fact, the word “hysteria” actually originates from the Greek word for “uterus,” showing how the centuries-long dismissal of women’s health problems have even gone so far as to permeate our very verbiage. When addressing this idea of misogyny in reference to women’s health, 4 leading specialists at the Katz Institute for Women’s Health explained how a lot of these sentiments are by nature subconscious and unintentional, and that much of it stems from the historical idea that women are “weaker” than men. This idea often internally reflects in women themselves, who often work to fit into this stereotype of being calm and gentle; this can lead to a lack of self-advocating in healthcare settings. When asked about ways to fix these systematic problems, these doctors suggest that other healthcare professionals rely on their medical training as a background for treatment, while also aiming to be as open and receptive to patient input as possible. They believe that if a woman is feeling like her health is being ignored, she should speak up and try to get a second opinion as well.

Work Cited

Gaslighting in Women’s Health: When Doctors Dismiss Symptoms | Northwell Health, www.northwell.edu/katz-institute-for-womens-health/articles/gaslighting-in-womens-health. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024. 

Ream, MaryAnn Ferreux and Melissa. “Women’s Health, and Why 51% Are Overlooked so Often.” Integrated Care Journal, 24 Jan. 2024, integratedcarejournal.com/womens-health-why-51-overlooked/.

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