Yesterday I asked a question about what health in a world without the patriarchy would look like. The responses were fabulous, but sometimes tricky to follow as the thread kind of wound its way around the topic. I’ve collated the key ideas into a long thread because ...

... I think they’re hopeful, strong and deeply meaningful for us. I may not have captured the fullness of what was contributed, or used the most respectful language to describe your life, so please correct me and add more if you want! ...

Of course it’s not everyone’s story – I trust that you are grown up enough to read for what resonates & not personalise every item. Trolls & reckons will be blocked immediately.

As is usual, it’s vital to really hear the stories before any answers can be found. These first themes tell the stories of some womxn receiving healthcare from men & within a male dominated health system. The first theme was about health care that womxn don’t get right now.

It was about untreated menstrual pain & endometriosis, difficulty accessing gynae surgeries including sterilisation, inadequate attention to hormonal issues including birth control & PCOS, & heightened attention to weight & body size.

The second theme is related to the first. It’s about the experience of being dismissed, ignored, not believed & talked over. It’s about male partners, specialists & even employers having a more significant say over our bodies than we do.

No-one talked about gender reassignment, hormone therapy or any specifically LGBTQI issues, understandably as this was not a safe forum. My assumption is that the issues that we discussed are exponentially worse for these sisters. I use ‘exponential’ in its truest sense.

Along with being ignored or worse was the sheer lack of research & resource around womxn’s issues. Research in all sorts of areas being done on male bodies, hormones & phenotype as the norm, inadequate priority given to endo, menstrual pain, fertility, menopause, birth control.

On the flip side, not enough priority research into systemic male birth control. This latter point came with some eyerolling about the side effects that are deal breakers for men but that women have to tolerate to avoid pregnancy.

Far more disturbing is the theme of womxn’s fear around male doctors. This came up from a variety of respondees & included preparing a script very carefully when we know we have to try to get care from a man, avoiding male doctors, avoiding seeking healthcare if it means ...

... going to a man, esp if the consult might include touching. Language included anxiety & fear of male doctors, being patronised & crushed by their treatment, & needing to be ‘likeable’ in order to get good care. This is an absolute indictment on our current system.

Alongside this is shame about asking for help, shame of the older, overweight, different or Indigenous body. Womxn don’t trust male doctors to invest in their care or to hear & write an accurate story into their notes.

The training of male doctors was also a theme; learning to communicate & be authentic, about the female body, that ‘having a baby’ is NOT a treatment for menstrual pain or endo, nor is trying to find a boyfriend. (You couldn’t make this shit up, honestly.)

Also, the lack of understanding of male doctors, especially specialists, about the reality of living independently, having few resources (like wives!), poverty or intersectional complex needs. Adding Indigeneity, disability, age, chronic illness & pain, trans or intersex ...

... bodies & childlessness to simply being a womxn often means that our life situation is incomprehensible & therefore ignored or minimised.

The thought of being heard, taken seriously, valued for our knowledge of our own bodies brought up feelings of huge relief, validation & tears.

Wāhine Māori & Indigenous sisters talked about bringing well established traditional knowledges into mainstream health care. I use this term deliberately, because with such a shift of how we understand ourselves, our (her)stories, our environment ...

... & the wisdom tuku iho will change ‘mainstream’ into a space for all of us to focus on Indigenous wellbeing. Mainstream as an exclusively white, mostly male space will be a thing of the past. With this shift comes holism, collectivism & relationality.

With this shift comes holism, collectivism & relationality. This shift represents an opportunity for everyone to flourish.
The new mainstream (can someone please share a better word for the new way of ‘doing’ health?) has resourced space for womxn’s and whānau health, ...

... for being proactive, being personal & providing care in the fullest sense of the word. There is better education around sex, pleasure & our bodies. Free access to & accurate education about abortions. Proper care for trans people of all ages.

Indigeneity is the norm & tōhunga offer their care to those who want it. “I feel teary again just imagining how profoundly different chronically ill, elderly, disabled, Maori, Pasifika & migrants would feel if healthcare was designed/run by womxn.”

Diversity in health professions means that patients & whānau can find care that works for them.
There is also real diversity in the senior health positions in management, clinical & research. Nurses are paid fairly & equitably.

The community health sector is prioritised & well resourced. Mental health care is included in all care & there is no stigma attached. Holistic, wrap-around support for survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence is readily available & the health system is reframed to ...

... being about wairua, waiora and hauora of the whānau, not just managing sickness of the individual. Socially, there is an international valuing of whānau shown through improved maternity care, parental leave, baby friendly communities & workplaces, childcare ...

... sick leave & flexible working hours.

However, dismantling smashing the patriarchy is a complex undertaking because everywhere we turn, every change we make, we find another barrier like separating health from the environment, capitalism, not recognising unpaid mahi ...

... science that is biased against traditional knowledges, resources consistently channelled into the things that matter to men.

This new world order is good for men, too. In a non-patriarchal world it isn’t seen as emasculating for them to access healthcare frequently. They don’t need to be coaxed to seek help, advocated for & protected.

“Health without the patriarchy looks like a decrease in my underlying anxiety that I am not enough.” “Imagine what we could do/be if we were in our best form instead of tired, jaded and helping others before ourselves?”
Kua mutu to all of you