The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism
Incompetent Cervix: The Misogynist History Behind Naming The Female Body
Sep 21, 2023
Author and science journalist Rachel E. Gross joins host Kat Chow to discuss the misogynist origins of names and diagnoses in the female reproductive system. They explore problematic pregnancy terminology, the impact of bias on naming women's bodies, the shift towards gender-neutral language, the importance of precision in medical terminology, and the sinister history of gynecology, including unethical experimentation on enslaved black women.
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Quick takeaways
- The term 'geriatric pregnancy' is misleading and reflects biases in medicine as it inaccurately implies that pregnancies after the age of 35 are automatically risky or problematic.
- Biased language and terminology in reproductive health perpetuate harmful stereotypes and beliefs about women's reproductive experiences, hindering understanding and perpetuating disparities in healthcare.
Deep dives
The History of Geriatric Pregnancy
The term 'geriatric pregnancy' originated from a 1970s procedure for screening genetic abnormalities in fetuses. At that time, the cutoff for conducting the screening procedure was set at age 35, as it was believed that the risks associated with the procedure would be equivalent to the probability of abnormalities in the fetus. However, the term 'geriatric pregnancy' is highly misleading as it implies that pregnancies after the age of 35 are automatically risky or problematic. In reality, the risks associated with maternal age are not as dramatic as commonly believed, and the term itself reflects biases in medicine that influence how we label and perceive women's reproductive experiences.
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