Women's Health Movement Research Articles

Social Movements as Health-Educators

Within the postmodern framework, the present article examines how social movements may function as health-educators. Using the case study of “ACT UP” (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), the article establishes the configuration of this social movement organization as the product of a coalition between various pedagogical influences emanating from previous social movements, including the pre-existing AIDS movement, the gay and lesbian movement, and the women's health movement. The gay and lesbian movement offered young AIDS activists a sophisticated critique of mainstream science, especially concerning its “normative” function; the women's health movement provided ideological and logistical tools to support reliance upon community infrastructures, and the pre-existing AIDS movement, itself beneficiary of the two previous movements, accomplished seminal work to control the epidemic upon which ACT UP could thrive.

Reconstructing Motherhood in the Age of "Perfect" Babies: Mothers of Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities

L'A. examine la situation des meres d'enfants handicapes dans le contexte actuel de valorisation des enfants « parfaits ». Elle presente un certain nombre de donnees collectees aux Etats-Unis entre 1993 et 1995. Elle souligne que, dans ce pays, la reproduction biologique est envisagee comme une production de type economique. Dans cette perspective, les meres d'enfants handicapes apparaissent comme des productrices de marchandises de mauvaise qualite. Elle identifie la « mere reelle » a une personne qui sait, d'une part, percevoir les besoins et la nature de son enfant et, d'autre part, affronter le diagnostic medical. Elle insiste sur la detresse emotionnelle des meres face au handicap de leur enfant. Elle critique les representations de la normalite dans le contexte culturel americain.

Motherhood Reconceived: Feminism and the Legacies of the Sixties.

From the early days of second-wave feminism, motherhood and the quest for women's liberation have been inextricably linked. And yet motherhood has at times been viewed, by anti-feminists and select feminists alike, as somehow at odds with feminism. In reality, feminists have long treated motherhood as an organizing metaphor for women's needs and advancement. The mother has been regarded with suspicion at times, deified at others, but never ignored. The first book devoted to this complex relationship, Motherhood Reconceived examines in depth how the realities of motherhood have influenced feminist thought. Bringing to life the work of a variety of feminist writers and theorists, among them Jane Alpert, Mary Daly, Susan Griffin, Adrienne Rich, and Dorothy Dinnerstein, Umansky situates feminist discourses of motherhood within the social and political contexts of the 1960s. Charting an increasingly favorable view of motherhood among feminists from the late 1960s through the 1980s, Umansky reveals how African American feminists sought to redefine black nationalist discourses of motherhood, a reworking subsequently adopted by white radical and socialist feminists seeking to broaden the racial base of their movement. Noting the cultural left's conflicted relationship to feminism, that is, the concurrent demand for individual sexual liberation and the desire for community, Umansky traces that legacy through various stages of feminist concern about motherhood: early critiques of the nuclear family, tempered by strong support for day care; an endorsement of natural childbirth by the women's health movement of the early 1970s; white feminists' attempt to forge a multiracial movement by declaring motherhood a universal bond; and the emergence of psychoanalytic feminism, ecofeminism, spiritual feminism, and the feminist anti- pornography movement.

Woman-to-woman support: lessons from an Australian case story

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the use of storytelling to generate critical thinking about women's mental and emotional health care. The case story at the heart of the storytelling process describes a real, conflict situation in a remote, Australian women's health center. The themes generated lead to critical analysis of the concepts of care, independence, self-responsibility, ideology and woman-space, as they pertain to services designed to promote women's mental and emotional well-being. The conflict in the story arose between a lay worker providing woman-to-woman support and a professional counselor. Woman-to-woman support is a strategy developed in the women's health movement. It refers to the provision of time and space in women's health centers for women to work on their own needs with the support of women's health workers. Based on feminist principles, the aim is to empower women with knowledge, resources and skills. Woman-to-woman support builds on the care that women have traditionally provided for each other and is particularly useful for women living in regions where only limited, professional counseling services may be available.

Gender-related indicators for the evaluation of quality of care in reproductive health services

This paper is based on a decade of participative research with health institutions and women users of health services, and shared reflections with feminists working in women's health projects. It describes a study between 1993 and 1995 in rural and urban sectors of the Metropolitan Region of Chile, including the capital Santiago, 1 of the care women were receiving in public sector reproductive health services for contraception, childbirth and cervical cancer. The study aimed to produce a range of indicators for evaluating quality of care in those services from a gender perspective. The data generated four main variables in quality of care — the extent of improvement in a woman's health and well-being, the extent to which her expectations were met, the extent of respect shown to the woman as an individual and her rights, and the extent to which her autonomy was strengthened — as a result of the care provided. Indicators were developed arising from these variables and can be developed for all aspects of service delivery. They can be used by the women's health movement, users of services and health services themselves to train health professionals, and to recommend, lobby for and measure improvements in quality of care.

Medical and Social Dynamics of College Women's Interactions with Their Gynecologists

Using data collected from twenty in‐depth interviews with female college students from SUNY Geneseo, a small selective public college in western New York, this paper examines the nature of college women's clinical interactions with their gynecologists. The author focuses on the female patient's role as a passive participant. The general finding was that, although some women do take an active role in the clinical interaction, most readily accept the doctor's authority and their own vulnerability without question. A majority of the interviewees reported that they did not have any questions for their gynecologist and stressed their own focus on “just getting it [the exam] over with,” while those who did report asking questions characterized themselves as exceptionally strong women. The author offers possible explanations for the women's disinterest and discusses the implications for the women's health movement.

The Virtual Speculum in the New World Order

Beginning by reading a 1992 feminist appropriation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam – in a cartoon in which the finger of a nude Adamic woman touches a computer keyboard, while the god-like VDT screen shows a disembodied fetus – ‘Virtual Speculum’ argues for a broader conception of ‘new reproductive technologies’ in order to foreground justice and freedom projects for differently situated women in the New World Order. Broadly conceptualized reproductive practices must be central to social theory in general, and to technoscience studies in particular. Tying together the politics of self help and women's health movements in the United States in the 1970s with positions on reproductive freedom articulated within the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the NAACP in the 1990s, the paper examines recent work in feminist science studies in several disciplinary and activist locations. Statistical analysis and ethnography emerge as critical feminist technologies for producing convincing representations of the reproduction of inequality. Untangling the semiotic and political–economic dialectics of invisibility and hypervisibility, ‘Virtual Speculum’ concludes by linking the well-surveyed amniotic fluid of on-screen fetuses and the off-frame diarrhea of uncounted and underfed infants in regimes of flexible accumulation and structural adjustment.

Planting the seeds of a latina women's health movement

(1997). Planting the seeds of a latina women's health movement. Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 13-16.

The women's health movement in New Zealand: Past achievements, future challenges

(1997). The women's health movement in New Zealand: Past achievements, future challenges. Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 23-26.

Why reproductive health and rights: Because I am a woman

(1997). Why reproductive health and rights: Because I am a woman. Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 16-20.

The US women's health movement: Some vignettes from our past

The US women's health movement: Some vignettes from our past

Broadsheet: end of an era?

(1997). Broadsheet: end of an era? Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 26-26.

Approaching equity in consumer health information delivery: NetWellness.

The growing public interest in health and wellness information stems from many sources, including social changes related to consumers' rights and women's health movements, and economic changes brought about by the managed health care revolution. Public, hospital, and medical center libraries have been ill-equipped to meet the increasing need for consumer-oriented materials, even though a few notable programs have been established. The "Information Superhighway" could be an effective tool for sharing health information if access to telecomputing equipment and training were available to those with an information need. The University of Cincinnati Medical Center, with its libraries in the leading role, is delivering NetWellness, an electronic consumer health library service, to residents of 29 counties in three midwestern states. Users connect directly through the Internet, through regional Free-Nets, and by visiting one of 43 public access sites where networked workstations have been installed. The continued success of the project depends on developing partnerships, providing quality content and maintaining fair access.

Biology and destiny

(1997). Biology and destiny. Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 21-23.

Making ourselves exist

(1997). The personal is political: Beginnings and endings in an ongoing history. Reproductive Health Matters: Vol. 5, The international women's health movement, pp. 9-11.

Women's Standpoints on Nature: What Makes Them Possible?

Previous articleNext article No AccessWomen's Standpoints on Nature: What Makes Them Possible?Sandra HardingSandra Harding Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Osiris Volume 12, Number 11997Women, Gender, and Science: New Directions Published for the History of Science Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/649273 Views: 19Total views on this site Citations: 13Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1997 The History of Science Society, Inc.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Aishwarya Ramachandran, Isobel C. Mouat, Gunilla Öberg Incorporating equity, diversity, and inclusion in science: Lessons learned from an undergraduate seminar, Science Education 107, no.11 (Sep 2022): 180–202.https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21768Felicia Lazaridou, Suman Fernando Deconstructing institutional racism and the social construction of whiteness : A strategy for professional competence training in culture and migration mental health, Transcultural Psychiatry 59, no.22 (Apr 2022): 175–187.https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615221087101Marsha L. Richmond Women in the Historiography of Biology, (Jan 2021): 317–342.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90119-0_17Mylène Shankland, Élisabeth Abergel La reconnaissance sociale intersubjective de l’expérience de la grossesse chez les hommes trans : étude de cas multiples, Recherches féministes 34, no.11 (Jan 2021): 181.https://doi.org/10.7202/1085248arMarsha L. Richmond Women in the Historiography of Biology, (May 2018): 1–27.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74456-8_17-1 Bibliography, (Oct 2015): 566–665.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119072218.biblioRoxanne M. Hughes, Brandon Nzekwe, Kristen J. Molyneaux The Single Sex Debate for Girls in Science: a Comparison Between Two Informal Science Programs on Middle School Students’ STEM Identity Formation, Research in Science Education 43, no.55 (Jan 2013): 1979–2007.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-012-9345-7Christine Bauhardt Ökologiekritik: Das Mensch-Natur-Verhältnis aus der Geschlechterperspektive, (Jan 2008): 315–320.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-91972-0_36Cynthia Kraus Naked Sex in Exile: On the Paradox of the ?Sex Question? in Feminism and in Science, NWSA Journal 12, no.33 (Oct 2000): 151–177.https://doi.org/10.2979/NWS.2000.12.3.151Alan Soble Bad Apples: Feminist Politics and Feminist Scholarship, Philosophy of the Social Sciences 29, no.33 (Aug 2016): 354–388.https://doi.org/10.1177/004839319902900302Lisa A. Eckenwiler Pursuing Reform in Clinical Research: Lessons from Women's Experience, The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 27, no.22 (Jun 2016): 158–170.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.1999.tb01448.xSandra Harding Gender, Development, and Post-Enlightenment Philosophies of Science, Hypatia 13, no.33 (Mar 2020): 146–167.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1998.tb01375.x John Neu Current Bibliography of the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences, 1997, Isis 88 (Oct 2015): 1–308.https://doi.org/10.1086/383918

Professionalization of Women's Health Groups in Sao Paulo: The Troublesome Road towards Organizational Diversity

This article gives an overview of the origins and characteristics of the women's health movement in Sao Paulo as a specific example of a social movement. It focuses, in particular, on its organizational diversity which includes, but is not restricted to, differences between professionalized and non-professionalized organizations. In this respect, three questions seem important: (1) what happens to the potential of social movements when they become dependent for funding on mainstream institutions such as foundations and international aid agencies; and more interestingly for organizational research, how do changes in organizational forms and practices such as formalization and professionalization impinge upon (2) the solidarity and collective identity of these groups and (3) the way they bring change about? In broader terms, this article wishes to promote an understanding of social movement fields as plural, organizationally and otherwise. It points to the advantages of this organizational diversity, as well as to the problems and tensions it brings about.

Rifkin's Latest Target: Genetic Testing

Jeremy Rifkin, the author-activist who's never met an engineered gene he liked, kicked off a new campaign against the use of human genetic data on 21 May in Washington, D.C. With endorsements from members of women's health movements in 69 nations, he unveiled a campaign that will attack the patenting of breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 and push for new laws to limit access to human genetic data in research, medicine, and commerce. But like other coalitions he has put together in the past to oppose genetic engineering, the members of this coalition may have different agendas.

The politics of women's health: setting a global agenda.

The last decade has been marked by a rapid growth in the women's health movement around the world. There has been a marked shift in activities away from the developed countries, as campaigns increase in intensity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The practice of women's health politics has also become increasingly international with sustained and effective collaboration across the north-south divide. Both the goals of these campaigns and their methods vary with the circumstances of the women involved. But despite this diversity, common themes can be identified: reproductive self-determination; affordable, effective, and humane medical care; satisfaction of basic needs; a safe workplace; and freedom from violence.

An Analysis of the Women??s Health Movement and Its Impact on the Delivery of Health Care within the United States

Active in the United States for the past 25 years, the women's health movement was originally an outgrowth of the larger feminist movement and shares many of the same assumptions. The women's health movement has been successful in increasing public awareness of the problems involved in the delivery of health care to women and effecting changes in that health care. This article seeks to identify societal contributions and specific events that resulted in the occurrence of this social reform movement, enumerate some of the accomplishments, and suggest why health care providers would benefit by understanding this phenomenon.