Issues in Women's Health

This interdisciplinary course critically examines issues in women's health.  Biological, socio-cultural, psychological, historical and political processes that shape and define women's health and healthcare experiences will be explored, including ways in which medical knowledge has been contructed and applied to women's bodies.

The normal physiology and pathophysiology will be presented within the broader context of social, cultural and historical interpretations.  It is a primary goal to explore these significant questions:  How has the physical functioning of the human female body been interpreted by the scientific community?  How have these interpretations shaped the type and quality of medical treatment available to women?  What has been done to change ideas about women's bodies and the health care offered to women?  What is the link between cultural perceptions of women, women's status and the management of women's bodies?

The Objectives of the Course

1. to examine the physiology underlying women's health and illness experiences

2. to examine the methodology used by scientific research in the study of women's health

3. to examine women's health issues in their social, cultural and historical contexts

4. to expose hidden issues in women's health, for example "What questions have not been asked?"

Goals for the Students

Upon completion of the course the students will be able to

1. interpret statistical data related to women's health issues
2. examine data using contextual analysis
3. demonstrate an understanding of the social, cultural and historical factors that effect the ways that women's bodies are conceptualized and women's health issues are viewed
4. assess strenghts and limitations of research in the field of women's health
5. to critically analyze policy issues and decisions made about women's health and healthcare
6. understand the link between gender relations and women's status in comtemporary society and medical treatment and research

Course Topics

The Big Picture:

• How is gender relevant to science?

• Is medicine/science sexist?  

• What is the impact of a person's gender, race, ethnicity, class and sexual orientations on the quality of the health care they recieve?

Body Image: Self-Perception

• Metabolism: the Story Behind Fat
• The Culture of Diet
• The History of Obesity and Anorexia
• Fat as a Feminist Issue
• Thinness as Chic
• Media Images of the Female Body

Female Hormones and the Myth of PMS

• Menstral Cycle/Ovarian Cycle
• Why do only American women experience PMS?
• Medicalizing natural body changes into "symptoms"
• The Culture of Menopause

Social Policies and Racial Politics of Women's Reproductive Functions

• Margaret Sanger, Birth Control Pioneer
• Midwifery
• Forced Sterilization
• Pregnancy and Welfare
• Third World Mothers and Infant Formula

Sexual Health and Sexual Disease

• AIDS
• Racism, Sexism, Classism, Heterosexism in AIDS
• International Issues and AIDS

Biological and Social Constructions of Mental Health

• Depression: Biological or Cultural?
• Impact of Gender, Race, Class and Culture on Mental Health Care

Gendering of Addictions

• Physiology of Addiction
• Usage, treatment and cultural images of female vs. male addicts

Student Group Presentations

Possible Topics:

Teenage pregancy; Sexually transmitted disease; Breast cancer; Cardiovascular disease and treatment; Alcoholism; Exercise; Abortion; Lamaze and natural childbirth; Women with disabilities; Cosmetic surgery.

Student Responsibilities*

Group Project - oral presentation and written self assessment

Journal

Reaction Papers (3-4 pages, 2 per semester)

Class Participations

Textbooks:

Much of the reading in this course will be of selected articles form the literature.  However, the following textbooks will also be used:

MisMeasure of Women: Why women are not the better sex, the inferior sex or the opposite sex. Carol Tavris, Simon & Schuster, 1992

Biology of Women.  Ethel Sloane, Delmar Publishers,