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Medical misogyny is very real
and
a new study has proven how deadly it is for women

January 7, 2022.

Studies from a survey of 1.3 million patients carried out at the University of Toronto suggest that women
who are operated on by a male doctor are 32 per cent more likely to die after the procedure. The same risk
does not apply when women carry out the same procedures on male patients, so cannot be explained away
by some innate understanding of our own biological sex.

Medical misogyny is already well recorded in western societies. In the UK, the “belief” barrier that many
women need to overcome before female pain is taken seriously is staggeringly high, but medical bias does
not, alone, explain the surgical outcomes described above.

Medical students, both men and women, go through the same training process which embeds this misogyny.
So why are men putting female lives at risk, but not the other way around?

The researchers state that male surgeons may “act on subconscious, deeply ingrained biases, stereotypes
and attitudes”, and that differences in male and female communication styles, plus how surgeons handle
the Hippocratic interpersonal relationship, and the exchange of information in pre-op discussions with the
patient, may also be important.

There are many ways that women and men interact by often responding unconsciously to inbuilt sex and
gender imbalances. Women are constantly aware of male power and authority, and a female patient may
not be at ease sharing information about symptoms, lifestyle and personal habits with a male surgeon.

When women talk about the menace of patriarchy, they aren’t just lobbying for a closure to the gender pay
gap or better access to childcare, but also declaring that sexism continues to pervade the whole of society
today.

The article concludes that to counteract the continuing supremacy of male privilege in the health service,
many more female surgeons need to be trained, which means also making rotas and working conditions for
surgeons more family friendly.

Judith Crowe