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?