Understanding gender construction: creating space for feminist health care practice and research.

An understanding of imposed cultural norms allows the scientist, researcher, and health care practitioner to move beyond the social construction of gender and illness. From Aristotle's theory of reproduction to neurological and psychological research asserting sex as destiny to present-day attitudes toward intersexuality, we can trace the conceptualization of women in terms of biological inferiority. These theories elucidate the ways in which the cultural assumptions influence the institution of scientific inquiry and vice versa. To assure equal and fair health care practices, a paradigm shift is called for that actively accepts feminist research practices and rejects culturally dominant methods of research in medicine and science.