My plan for my research project is to bring more awareness towards the misogyny women sometimes face within the medical field, either as doctors and nurses or as the patients. The questions that I am primarily asking are related to why this sexism is so prevalent, especially within the healthcare field. I really want to know the reason behind the unconscious biases that many male doctors have against women who go to hospitals with ailments. The reason I want to research the misogyny against women is because I have heard many stories, either online or from my friends, that are firsthand accounts of their experiences with doctors who do not believe their pain or look past the real issue just because of their gender.
I do not have any interesting reason related to why I chose to research this topic. Personally, I just want to make this problem more well known to others that might not have been aware of it. Sexism is prevalent in most places and careers so healthcare is not much difference in that sense, but in all those other instances, those prejudices are not in trouble of being life threatening. Many people can and have died due to the thoughtlessness and biases of doctors who ignore issues regarding women.
I think something the fields that will help me the most for this assignment are professional articles because they will solidify my arguments and help make my research more well-rounded. In addition to the professional fields, the aspect of my project that will be the most appealing with be the personal anecdotes from a primary source that shows a firsthand example of their experiences with this issue. This source will help counteract the logos of the articles and add an aspect of pathos to my writing.
Trade publications (for folks who work in various aspects of the medical field) will likely be valuable to your inquiry. I would also encourage you to look for sources from advocacy groups (and individuals who work on this as a social justice issue)–they will likely have some interesting perspectives. In both instances, it’s important to think of these folks as *stakeholders*, people who have a direct, vested interest in these issues and whose perspectives, therefore, are important to hear.
You may not currently have direct experience with the maltreatment of women in the medical field, and I hope you never will, but your perspectives as someone *to whom* this might happen is valid–feel free to “bring yourself” to this work!