Feminism meets the “new” epidemiologies: toward an appraisal of antifeminist biases in epidemiological research on women's health
Section snippets
IntroductionIf the biological finality of death can only be explained in wider social context then the complex realities of women's sickness and health must be explored in similar ways. In order to do this, traditional epidemiological methods have to be turned on their head. Instead of identifying diseases and then searching for the cause, we need to begin by identifying the major areas of activity that constitute women's lives. We can then go on to analyze the impact of these activities on their health and well being. Lesley Doyal (1995, p. 1)
If the biological finality of death can only be explained in wider social context then the complex realities of women's sickness and health must be explored in similar ways. In order to do this, traditional epidemiological methods have to be turned on their head. Instead of identifying diseases and then searching for the cause, we need to begin by identifying the major areas of activity that constitute women's lives. We can then go on to analyze the impact of these activities on their health and well being. Lesley Doyal (1995, p. 1)
Epidemiology is currently engaged in a moment of critical self-reflection, debating its models, theories, methods, levels of analysis, guiding principles, ethics, and future role in protecting the public's health.1
“New” epidemiologies and their articulation with feminism
In this essay, we hope to contribute to an alternative paradigm for epidemiology, one which is explicitly informed by a feminist perspective. To this end, our thinking clearly has been informed by three emerging forms of “new” epidemiology, including: (1) the critical epidemiology of Krieger & colleagues (Fee & Krieger, 1994; Krieger et al., 1993; Krieger & Fee, 1994; Krieger & Zierler (1995), Krieger & Zierler (1996)); (2) the popular epidemiology of Brown (Brown (1992), Brown (1997)); and (3)
Problem definition and knowledge production in women's health
In the new movement toward a more self-reflexive, critical epidemiology, debates often center on what epidemiologists should study — namely, what topics are worthy of epidemiological engagement and investment. Less often questions are asked about why and how epidemiologists produce knowledge, make knowledge claims, and articulate “difference” from the conjunction of knowledge/power. These epistemological (i.e., theories about the nature and scope of knowing, including presuppositions and
Creating a feminist epidemiology
Having spelled out a number of antifeminist biases in epidemiological studies of women's health, we conclude this essay with a hopeful exhortation to all epidemiologists: Namely, a call for the development of an emancipatory, feminist epidemiology that is perceptive of and responsive to the great diversity of women, their multiple forms of oppression, and the breadth of their health needs as they themselves define them. The theorizing of Euro-American women of color (a.k.a. black feminists) (
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Robert A. Hahn, of the Division of Prevention Research and Analytic Methods, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. He planted the seeds of this essay and provided rich critical insights on the nature of current epidemiological practice.
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