Summary and Reaction to Article by Alex Cathcart
Intersectionality needs to affect the way we think about health care, because it answers much more than simply, is the afflicted person male or female? In her thesis, Olena Hankivsky argues that while society has taken steps toward acknowledging the impact intersectionality has on our lives, there is still room for progress. She identifies health care as an primary area which intersectionality can be used to improve our understanding and treatment of illnesses, because it offers a more comprehensive view of the situation. She points to the fact that the differences among women and among men are equally, if not more, significant than those between the sexes. Three areas where this is especially true are violence, cardiovascular disease, and HIV/AIDS. For the most part, violence against women is thought of as a male-perpetrated act. However, it is not that simple. Hankivsky writes, "violence against women is not only a matter of gendered power relationships but is co-constructed with racial and class stratification,... some of which may be more salient within such interactions." Violence is not experienced equally across racial, social, or sexual lines. Thus, an upper-middle class white women is less likely to be a victim of violence than an African-American woman in a low-income neighborhood. Similarly, both "racially ethnic and low-income" men and women are more susecptible to contract cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS. Without the financial resources to eat healthily and seek regular medical care, these groups are disporportionally affected by these diseases. Without this essential context, society runs the risk of overlooking glaring issues simply because it doesn't affect men or women as a whole. Hankivsky sums the topic up, writing, "exploring the simultaneity of race, class, and shifting gender relations is vital to the future of [health care]... [Our] goal is to bring about a conceptual shift in how researchers understand social categories, their relationships, and interactions and then to have this different understanding transform how researchers interrogate processes ... that shape health inequities."
Health care should not be a generalized. By not taking into account men and women's different intersectional identities (i.e. race, socioeconomic status, sexuality, etc.), the health care industry is not providing the best possible care for its patients, and, thus, doing the public a gross disservice. A person's health is the most personal thing that anyone has and is unique to each person. Thus, each person's health care treatment should be tailored to meet the needs of their specific situation. I agree with Hankivsky, that it is not enough to just understand that intersectionality affects our health. We, as a scientific community, need to take it a step further, applying our more comprehensive understanding of the individual's situation to provide better treatment. Just as our treatment process for an adolescent patient is different from our process for an elderly patient, we should have different processes to better meet the needs of each individual, based on their race, socioeconomic status, and sexuality. By implimenting the context provided by the study of intersectionality into the treatment of patients, we can revolutionize the health care industry, more effectively treating people, because the focus is on the individual rather than generalized groups.
Works Cited:
Hankivsky, Olena “Women’s health, men’s health, and gender and health: Implications of intersectionality” Jun 2012, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953612000408?via%3Dihub