Overview Of Two Presentations On Intersectionality & Women's Health At George Washington University

For this semester's University Writing & Research Conference, I attended the panel on Intersectionality and Women's Health, which held two presentations. The first one, presented by Arielle Maignan, asked the research question of, "How Has Marginalization of Black Women Impacted Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Rates?" While the second presentation, by Nick Porr, Naomi Michelson as well as Molly Ahern, focused on illustrating, "The Detrimental Impact of Gender Biases on the Health and Safety of Disabled and Chronically Ill Women." Despite these two research projects having two very distinct, niche subjects, there is still a significant overlap in their themes, ideas, and arguments. But before that, it is essential to note the research projects' differences in methodology and analysis to reach the individual conclusions that they presented.

To begin with, Arielle Maignan's process to find evidence of disparity within maternal mortality and morbidity rates, which is defined as "the death of a woman while pregnant" (World Health Organization, 2020) as well as "any health condition attributed to and/or aggravated by pregnancy" (Koblinsky et al., 2012) respectively, along racial lines included archival research along with first-hand accounts. Maignan described how she used death certificates, accessible through online databases, to gather similarities between how black mothers had died across different regions of the United States. Then, she interviewed several black women, via email, telephone, and social media direct messaging, who had personal, near-death experiences while giving birth or in the process of giving birth to hear the stories of those affected by this racial disparity. Maignan found these women by reaching out to awareness groups that are focused on the issue of black maternal mortality, such as the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. With this methodology in place, the presenter concluded that the systematic institutional racism fundamental to the United States has flowed into the American medical system, leading to black women experiencing maternal mortality 3-4 times more than white women and that 60% of those cases were/are preventable (Maignan, 2020). The reason being that a black woman's health and concerns regarding pain aren't valued or validated as much as white women (Maignan, 2020).

As for the presentation on the effects of gender baises on chronically ill, disabled women by Porr, Michelson, and Ahern, the primary method of producing its results was ethnography. This type of research is a qualitative "study of people in their own environment through...face-to-face interviewing" (National Park Service, 2020), which puts much emphasis on the interviewees' own words and experiences to explore broader norms within society. The three researchers each individually interviewed white, disabled, women on their life experiences regarding healthcare as well as personal safety and subsequently compared their stories to reach several similar themes across all three participants. During the presentation, the researchers made sure to assert the immense importance of using ethnography in disability studies because disabled individuals are typically utilized as statistics instead of being seen or heard as humans with stories. In the end, the conclusions this second group presented were that the "[p]atriarchal dominance in society" and the "[h]eightened rate of violence against disabled females" has seeped into the healthcare system as well (Porr et al., 2020). The researchers' thesis being that "due to gender biases, doctors tend to dismiss and mistreat "invisible" pain disorders at a much higher rate among women than men" (Porr et al., 2020), specifically meaning that a woman's concerns of pain aren't as cared for when compared to those of men. The explanation is that because of the sexist stereotype that men have higher pain tolerances doctors will actually hear out the concerns of men and accurately treat their discomfort (Porr et al., 2020). At the same time, however, women are disregarded due to their supposed lower pain tolerance and exaggerated behavior (Porr et al., 2020).

Conclusively, these two conference presentations explore different fields of research, but yet, both speak profoundly on the concept of intersectionality and its effects on healthcare for women. The overlapping avenues of discrimination that black women experience in maternal healthcare environments (racism as well as sexism) and that disabled, white women experience in healthcare environments (ableism as well as sexism) are illuminated by these presentations. The implications of the research done within these projects will open up a further discussion into the effects our nation's institutionalized racism and societal norms have on the incredibly vital resource of healthcare to women across the country. As for my own research, which focuses on the relationship between anxiety and first-year college females, the implications of attending this insightful conference would be that I will make sure to thoroughly elaborate on the discrimination women experience in the mental health department of healthcare.

References

World Health Organization, "Maternal Mortality Ratio (Per 100 000 Live Births)," World Health Organization, accessed March 7, 2020,  https://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/indmaternalmortality/en/

Koblinsky, M., Chowdhury, M. E., Moran A., Ronsmans C. (2012). Maternal morbidity and disability and their consequences: neglected agenda in maternal health. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition.

Maignan, A. (2020). How has marginalization of black women impacted maternal mortality and morbidity rates. In Conference proceedings.

National Park Service, "Park Ethnography Program," National Park Service, accessed March 7, 2020,  https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/ERCb.htm

Porr, N., Michelson, N., Ahern, M. (2020). The detrimental impact of gender biases on the health and safety of disabled and chronically ill women. In Conference proceedings.