Medicalizing women's discontent is something that has become more common with time. It is important to pay attention to because it emphasizes how women's natural biological processes (ie PMS) are classified as a "medical condition" and then treated with drugs that are the same as Aspirin, ib profin, etc. Analyzing this artifact is important because it spreads awareness about women's menstrual cycle as a disorder that needs to be treated.
Premenstrual syndrome, a natural biological
process in women, presents a paradox for feminists because they acknowledge the
importance of women’s complaints and want them to seek medical attention, but
the fear of the syndrome gaining legitimacy will have a negative impact on
women as a whole. The impact of women's menstrual cycles and the symptoms that come with this process should not be classified as a medical "disorder" because it emphasizes the idea of women "always having problem."
A medical condition is defined as "a pathological condition of a part, organ, or
system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic
defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an individual group of
signs or symptoms; or a condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as
abnormal and harmful." The definition of a medical condition does not
offer the idea that premenstrual syndrome can be classified as an actual
medical condition.
Premenstrual syndrome is not a condition that is regarded as abnormal in
society. All women with normal hormone levels experience a monthly menstrual cycle, so it cannot be classified as an abnormal condition. The argument I make in my essay revolves around the idea that:
While physicians aim to treat premenstrual
syndrome as a disorder, the dangers of overpsychologizing normal biological
processes are far more important than treating a natural symptom. This analysis matters because it will be an increasingly important field to analyze as time goes on as more and more parts of our lives are medicalized. The tendency of overpsychologizing biological processes is a danger to all of humanity and will cause problems in everyone's health if it is not addressed in time.
Discussion Questions:
- How does the medicalization
framework emphasize the power of physicians to define
illness for something that is proven to be a
natural biological process as well as create a series of paradoxes? -How do physicians and society in general classify women and their premenstrual syndrome as "always having a problem?"
-How does the medicalization of women's discontent have an effect on men's health?
I feel like the medicalization of women's discontent makes it seem like women "always have a problem", like you said, and that men are always normal the the model that both men and women should be judged by.
ReplyDeleteBecause "PMS" and women's discontent is starting to gain legitimacy, I think that both men and women will attribute things other women do to "oh she is probably about to start her period". I think women sometimes use this as an excuse for certain behaviors, which is not right. Also, I think women are viewed as less capable in the professional world because of having "PMS", and other "diseases" related to their periods.
I think this is a really interesting topic of study because PMS is an often-cited reason why a woman should never be the president or hold some other high ranking position in society. This point is often put forth by men, however, who have no firsthand experience of PMS so a woman's perspective is much more valuable in this case. I will admit that in my own experience, the hormones rushing through my body at certain times of my body's natural cycle can make me a bit testy. For all the boys out there, it feels, at least to me, like a rush of irritation that I can feel go through my whole body. Surge is good word, because it has a sudden onset and leaves me very quickly. I counter this claim by the fact that at the young age of twenty three, I have already learned what it feels like when I have a "pang of PMS" and am quickly able to realize that any annoyance I feel is purely hormonal and am able to either tell myself the feeling isn't real, or apologize quickly if I snap at someone. People fear what they cannot understand, so its reasonable that men would worry that a woman's "menstrual range" could have adverse effects on society, but as a problem, PMS has become very overstated. Woman are fully capable of handling these natural urges on their own, they've been doing it since the dawn of humanity. The only thing about PMS which needs medical attention is for menstrual cramps, and for most women there are many OTC painkillers such as Advil or Tylenol work wonders.
ReplyDeleteIn class we watched a collection of news reporters make fun of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin for being women in politics. The male news reporters said that the ladies would not be able to run a political office very well because of their "PMS". PMS in women is talked about very often in our culture. Men and women both use the "PMS" excuse at home or in the workplace for being in a bad mood or yelling at someone. This is how society classifies women as "always having a problem". Basically it is saying, because you are a woman and have different hormones than men, you have a problem. Advertisements advertising products that "cure" PMS add to the medicalization of the disorder. Physicians are prescribing these medicines that are said to cure PMS and make women in "better" moods.
ReplyDeleteChelsea Anderson
As stated by Stanford Medical, It is in fact the ONLY reason this country's women get to live 10 years more and weigh 19 kilos less than us.
ReplyDelete(And really, it has totally NOTHING to do with genetics or some secret-exercise and EVERYTHING to do with "how" they eat.)
P.S, What I said is "HOW", and not "WHAT"...
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