Author: Nayely (Page 3 of 6)

The way we experience life creates a bias that we aren’t always aware of. A study of gender bias in health care states “compared to men, women have more pain, and it is more accepted for women to show pain, and more women are diagnosed with chronic pain syndromes.” However, “women, compared to men, received less effective pain relief, less pain medication with opioids, more antidepressants, and got more mental health referrals”. Women report more pain than men but are given less adequate treatment, proving they aren’t taken seriously. There is a mistrust between a healthcare provider and a female patient because of the gendered stereotype that women are overly emotional and over complain. Real physical symptoms are often too quickly dismissed as psychic manifestations of stress, resulting in the undertreatment of women or a gap between men and women in healthcare. This is not only dangerous but unfair and wrong. Healthcare professionals, especially when men when treating women, must be aware of their own biases to properly treat patients.

Samulowitz, Anke, et al. “‘Brave Men’ and ‘Emotional Women’: A Theory-Guided Literature Review on Gender Bias in Health Care and Gendered Norms towards Patients with Chronic Pain.” Pain Research and Management, vol. 2018, annual 2018. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587019307/AONE?u=cuny_nytc&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=a5bc6875. Accessed 17 Mar. 2022.

1. Nut graph

Since I was 11 years old, I had to hide a part of me from the world at all costs and I’m tired of it. I bleed for a week every month. It’s messy, annoying, and often painful. Women everywhere have to deal with the trials and tribulations of menstruating in silence because we don’t want to be accused of overreacting, being too emotional, and weak. Doctors confirm that period pain can be as painful as a heart attack. Yet, the tampon and pad commercials depict a happy woman going for a run or doing gymnastics. This is not the reality for most people who menstruate. Things like PMS, cramps, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, the list goes on and on, are very common. But it seems that no one wants to talk about it because the reproductive system of a woman is perceived as taboo. When a woman voices an opinion that disagrees with a man, they are undermined with the question “are you on your period?” This however is extremely dangerous because it affects our mindset. Women shouldn’t have to feel disgusted, ashamed, or angry towards a natural and healthy part of us. On top of this, it creates a stigma that leaves many women untreated by doctors.

1. Response to unit 1 essay comments

I have to review the rules for commas because I use them too much and sometimes incorrectly. One or two of my sentences have a weird structure or wording  that can confuse the reader about what I actually mean. Next time, I can maybe have someone proofread specifically for grammar and stuff like that. I also think reading the paper out loud to myself would help. If I don’t pause as I read, I don’t need a comma and I most likely would have noticed odd sounding sentences and thought of a way to make it sound nicer or clearer. These are easily taken care of when I revise.  Next, the conclusion wasn’t as “lyrical” as the rest. To fix that, I will see if I can add another story using my word or add more explanation to relate it back to my chosen word. Lastly, I need a better title to reflect the  emotion in the rest of my writing. I can do this by picking a line from my writing. Prof. Hall, I didn’t think my writing could make someone emotional. Thank you for sharing that with me in a recording rather than just text. Your comments made me feel more confident in myself as a writer. 

Knowledge about women’s body was minimal or plain guessing for a long time because the patriarchy kept women out of important roles. Zaria Gorvett from bbc says “Plato believed hysteria was caused by the mourning womb, which was sad when it wasn’t carrying a child. His contemporaries said it arose when the organ wandered around the body, becoming trapped in different body parts. The latter belief persisted well into the 19th Century, when the disorder was famously treated by bringing women to orgasm with early vibrators.” Isn’t that fascinating? First off, doctors made “hysteria” a diagnosable physical illness only in women. They wrote off any problems women wanted help with as the womens fault for being too emotional or having an overactive imagination. And then as treatment, male doctors brought women to orgasm, which is more for them than the women because it’s a temporary relief of symptoms. This lack of knowledge by male doctors is extremely dangerous to womens health. Although we’ve come a long way, male doctors just don’t have the experience or empathy to treat women correctly.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180806-how-the-menstrual-cycle-changes-womens-brains-every-month

JOHNSTON-ROBLEDO, Ingrid, and Joan C. CHRISLER. “The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma: Positioning Periods: Menstruation in Social Context.” Sex Roles, vol. 68, no. 1-2, Springer, 2013, pp. 9–18.