The Medicalization of Male and Female Bodies from the 19th Century to the Present
November 2020
TLDR Medicalization has shaped how society views health and gender roles over the past 200 years.
The thesis examined the medicalization of male and female bodies from the 19th century to the present, highlighting how biomedicine's power normalized moral imperatives and influenced health and illness concepts. It drew on theories by Peter Conrad, Ivan Illich, Irving Kenneth Zola, and Michel Foucault from the 1960s and 1970s. Over 200 years, the discourse on gender and sex significantly impacted health frameworks, particularly in areas like sexual health and aging. The thesis provided a case-centered analysis to critique medicalization within a robust conceptual framework.
