Feminism meets the "new" epidemiologies: toward an appraisal of antifeminist biases in epidemiological research on women's health.
This essay explores an alternative paradigm for epidemiology, one which is explicitly informed by a feminist perspective. We intend to expand upon recent critiques and debates within the emergent fields of "critical", "popular", and "alternative" epidemiology to examine how epidemiology's conceptual models--which are meant to contribute to the prevention of social inequalities in health, but may instead reinforce social hierarchies based on gender, race, and class--constrain our understanding of health and disease. Specifically, we examine persistent antifeminist biases in contemporary epidemiological research on women's health. Issues highlighted include: problem definition and knowledge production in women's health: biological essentialization of women as reproducers; and decontextualization and depoliticization of women's health risks. As part of this critique, we include suggestions for an emancipatory epidemiology that incorporates an alternative feminist framework.
Inhorn
M C
MC
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. minhorn@umich.edu
Whittle
K L
KL
D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D011287:Prejudice; D011634:Public Health; D012098:Reproduction; D012307:Risk Factors; D015983:Selection Bias; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health