The Lethality of Misogyny Medical Bias and Sexism

Misogyny pervades female ontology. All facets of womanhood are dictated by patriarchal standards (education, wage, career, sexuality etc.), but what does this mean for women who are dying, women who are in pain, and women who need medical help?

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Though it may not come as a surprise, the truth that misogyny exists within the medical field is particularly harrowing. It was a study published in the medical journal JAMA Surgery which inspired me to explore the effects of medical misogyny and the potential of its lethality. It found that female patients operated on by male surgeons are 32% more likely to die and 16% more likely to experience major complications. (At risk of sensationalising these statistics or engaging in fear-mongering, it is worth clarifying that this means if a male patient has a 1% chance of dying in surgery then a woman’s risk is 1.32% if operated on by a man.) When contextualised it may seem the difference is barely worth noting. Yet, the study also uncovered that there was no such disparity for female surgeons, no matter whether their patients were men or women. Also, male surgical patients experienced no difference in their chances of death whether they had a male or female surgeon. Essentially, more women die at the hands of men in an environment that is hypothetically controlled against the variables of social discrimination. The study highlights the extent to which society has built its practices upon a foundation of sexism. Sexism which cannot be removed from medical practice without a healthcare revolution.

Women’s history of medical care has never been picturesque. While the term ‘hysteria’ is often associated with Freud, ‘hysteria’ has spoken to exist within women for as long ago as Ancient Greece. They believed that the womb was the root of the problem, any issues with its function were believed to have caused physical and psychological symptoms in women that would be diagnosed as hysteria. As a result, the progression of hysteria throughout time reveals how ancient the traditions of male hegemony are and its persistence throughout the centuries to assign women to a biologically emotional and unreasonable body.

While the climate of today's medical care has improved, it is evident that the foundations of medical care are intrinsic to a wider patriarchal understanding of women. Traditions of assigning hysteria seem to have contorted into a modern desire to label celebrities with pseudo-diagnoses: Amber Heard springs to mind as a recent example of this. After her infamous trial against Johnny Depp, she is speculated to have Borderline Personality Disorder and Histrionic personality disorder. Disorders which have a pronounced 3:1 female-to-male gender ratio. Though women no longer endure the label of ‘hysteria’ it appears that the media persistently find a way to quickly identify and label female behaviour that they disapprove of.

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The catch-22 of medical bias is that while women are diagnosed significantly more often for disorders such as BPD and depression than men, their physical pain is often likely to be treated as a product of a mental health condition, rather than a physical condition. A 2018 study proved this and also that among patients experiencing chronic pain women are likely to be labelled “sensitive”, “hysterical” and “complaining”, while men were “brave” and “heroic”. Gender roles and stereotypes are reinforced within women’s cries for help. Imagine how frustrating it must be for women to be in copious amounts of pain and have it dismissed as an imaginary struggle. For the women who need medical help, these rejections clarify any illusions of equality and it becomes clear that medical systems channel the wider male hegemony.