The impact of feminism on mainstream medical sociology: An assessment

Abstract

By its very nature, the field of medical sociology has considerable potential for incorporating a consideration of gender in its research. After approximately a generation of the women's movement, women's studies, and the study of gender in sociology, now is an appropriate time to assess the impact of feminism on the mainstream of the field. Such an assessment is distinct from a feminist critique of medical sociology, with its implication that the field has many shortcomings, and also from a review of the growing sociological study of women's health (e.g., Auerbach and Figert 1995) and their role in providing as well as receiving care. Instead, my purpose is to examine representative research in mainstream medical sociology for evidence of the extent and nature of feminism's influence. Overall, I argue that by the 1990s mainstream medical sociology has been significantly affected by feminism, but that this effect is qualified in important ways.