The science of difference: The invisibility of women in health sciences

Authors

  • Carme Valls-Llobet Centre for Health Care Analysis and Programmes (Centro de Análisis y Programas Sanitarios, CAPS) in Barcelona (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.7.8155

Keywords:

gender and health, differential morbidity, gender perspective, equality, differences

Abstract

Women remained invisible in health sciences until the late twentieth century because they were not included in the cohorts used in researched studies. Thanks to the work done by different groups of feminist researchers, we were able to visualise the need to change those paradigms. But while gender perspectives have allowed us to research new aspects of science, gender has sometimes contributed to rendering female-specific health issues as invisible. For women to be treated equally, their differences have to be recognised, precisely so that the equal right of both sexes to quality of life can be defended. Therefore, the science of difference should be included in research and taught in all health science specialisations.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Carme Valls-Llobet, Centre for Health Care Analysis and Programmes (Centro de Análisis y Programas Sanitarios, CAPS) in Barcelona (Spain).

Graduate in Medicine and Surgery in 1968. She is an internal medicine and endocrinology assistant, and the director of the Woman, Health, and Quality of Life Programme at the Centre for Health Care Analysis and Programmes (Centro de Análisis y Programas Sanitarios, CAPS) in Barcelona (Spain), where she focuses on research and education about health, women, and gender issues. She has promoted a network of female health professionals in Spain, the Red-Caps, and is the author of several papers and the books Mujeres y hombres: Salud y diferencias (Folio, 1994), Mujeres invisibles (Debolsillo 2006), and Mujeres, salud y poder (Cátedra, 2009).

References

Díaz, C. (2002). Conversational heuristic as a reflexive method for feminist research. International Review of Sociology, 12(2), 249–255. doi: 10.1080/0390670022000012477

Fausto-Sterling, A. (2006). Cuerpos sexuados. Barcelona: Melusina.

Freedman, L. S., Simon, R., Foulkes, M. A., Friedman, L., Geller, N. L., Gordon, D. J., & Mowery, R. (1995). Inclusion of women and minorities in clinical trials and the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 – The perspective of NIH clinical trialists. Controlled Clinical Trials, 16(5), 277–285.

Harding, S. (1996). Ciencia y feminismo. Madrid: Morata. (Original work published in 1986).

Keller, E. F. (2004). What impact, if any, has feminism had on science? Journal of Bioscience, 29(1), 7–13. doi: 10.1007/BF02702556

Joel, D., Berman, Z., Tavor, I., Wexler, N., Gaber, O., Stein, Y., … Assaf, Y. (2015). Sex beyond the genitalia: The human brain mosaic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(50), 15468–15473. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1509654112

Pinn, V. W. (2003). Sex and gender factors in medical studies: Implications for health and clinical practice. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(4), 397–400. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.4.397

Ritz, S. A., Antle D. M., Côté, J., Deroy, K., Fraleigh, N., Messing, K., ... Mergler, D. (2014). First steps for integrating sex and gender considerations into basic experimental biomedical research. The FASEB Journal, 28(1), 4–13. doi: 10.1096/fj.13-233395

Rosser, S. V. (1986). Teaching science and health from a feminist perspective. A practical guide. New York: Pergamon Press.

Sau, V. (2000). Reflexiones feministas para principios de siglo. Madrid: Horas y HORAS.

Tingen, C., Nagel, J. D., & Clayton, J. A. (2013). Monitoring the implementation of the National Institutes of Health Strategic Plan for Women’s Health and Sex/Gender Differences Research: Strategies and successes. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2(5), 44–49. doi: 10.7453/gahmj.2013.051

Tomás, C., Yago, T., Eguiluz, M., Samitier, M. L., Oliveros, T., & Palacios, G. (2014). A tool to assess sex-gender when selecting health research projects. Atención Primaria, 1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.aprim.2014.05.010

Verbrugge, L. M. (1985). Gender and health: An update on hypotheses and evidence. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 26(3), 156–182.

Valls-Llobet, C. (2006). Mujeres invisibles. Barcelona: Debolsillo.

Valls-Llobet, C. (2009). Mujeres, salud y poder. Madrid: Editorial Cátedra.

Downloads

Published

2017-06-20

How to Cite

Valls-Llobet, C. (2017). The science of difference: The invisibility of women in health sciences. Metode Science Studies Journal, (7), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.7.8155
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1676
  • PDF
    558

Issue

Section

SheScience. Science from a gender perspective

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.