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Qualitative Health Research
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Gender and the Gynecological Examination

Women's Identities in Doctors' Narratives

Dariusz Galasinski

University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

Justyna Ziólkowska

University of Opole, Opole, Poland

The authors explore the constructions of gender in male doctors' narratives of gynecological examinations. Focusing on the ways in which gender identities are constructed in the stories of the medical encounter, they argue, first, that gender is more flexible during the visit with a gynecologist than has been suggested. Gendered identities are assumed and put aside as the interaction progresses, with its final stage—the pelvic examination—being constructed with gender removed. Second, they argue that undressing is invested with a special status during the examination. It is a gendered rite of passage between the two different ungendered subject positions of the doctor and the patient. They conclude that contrary to the assumptions in the literature on gynecological interactions, it is the genderization of undressing that is most conducive to securing the least face-threatening gynecological examination for the woman.

Key Words: discourse analysis • gynecological examination • gender identity • rites of passage • undressing

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, 477-488 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732306298361
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D. Galasinski and J. Ziolkowska
Identity ambivalence and embodiment in women's accounts of the gynaecological examination
Health (London) , October 1, 2007; 11(4): 455 - 474.
[Abstract] [PDF]