PARTTWO:MINDTHE(GENDERHEALTH)GAP ALEXEPSHTEIN

Alexepshtein

As time progresses, hopefully we will see such social change materialize. This could start by teaching female anatomy more accurately in medical schools or companies acknowledging the difference in female and male hormone cycles, how they operate on different time scales, and therefore have different strengths. It could start by making space in the labour market to hire women, rather than teaching women to ‘grow the confidence’ to act more like men; teaching doctors not to dismiss women’s pain or rule out any potential treatments because of the fear it is being ‘dramatized’; including women in clinical drug trials, even if this requires more funding or different tests due to their differing hormone levels, to make sure they receive the appropriate dosage of treatment and minimize side effects.

In order for those changes to be catalyzed, local change also has to be made. There needs to be a general acknowledgement of the problem by someone other than women. Men also need to do their part in researching and seeking out what can be done to make space for women in a world built around men.

More companies need to be held accountable to ensure that they are taking active steps towards allowing women to have choice and agency over their own bodies, rather than doing what is necessary to survive. People must accept that problems regarding women’s bodies need to escape the echo chamber.