Imagine you were being sentenced to death of an unresearched illness. This was the reality for women in 1642 in Salam, Massachusetts who were suffering from a disease which was not even attempted to be treated. Instead, it was chalked up to hysteria. The reality today is women are dismissed with the diagnosis of anxiety. In fact, Duke says one in five women feel like they been dismissed by healthcare workers while Harvard Business School claims 45% of women have been labeled ‘chronic complainers.’

The disparities of women’s healthcare are becoming increasingly apparent in society today, with social media bringing women’s injustices to light. Many women are going viral by sharing their abortion horror stories or talking about the struggles they are facing with getting diagnosed with an illness which significantly impacts their life. Many women report bleeding out in parking lots, blacking out, not being able to work or even walk before getting medical attention.

Since the creation of medicine, women have been underrepresented and or under studied. According to Duke, today, “Much of medical science is based on the belief that male and female physiology differ only in terms of sex and reproductive organs.” Due to the lack of study on the female body, women are more likely to be misdiagnosed or not diagnosed with medical conditions since they present differently than men. This is most apparent in diagnosing autism. According to Autism Speaks, 80% of women are diagnosis with autism after the age of 18, while boys, who are four times more likely to get diagnosis with autism, are typically diagnosed between the ages of one to two

Since women face a lack of representation, they are at risk every day. Harvard Business School says women are 47% more likely to have serious car crash injuries. This is because the crash test dummies used to test seatbelts are male. Men carry their weight and mass differently than women; which means that seatbelts are tailored towards and for men. This is only one example of many trials that is not inclusive to women. Women are less likely to respond well to medication, including pain medication since they are underrepresented in medical trials.

Harvard Business School states that women are 20% more likely to die within five years of having a major heart attack compared to men. This can be chalked up to lack of preventative care. The lack of which is caused by many factors, including ratio of female doctors compared to men. AAMC found that in the medical field, 38% of doctors are female. Despite this number, according to NBC, 5,000 less women under the care of a female doctor compared to a male doctor each year. Another reason preventative care is lacking for females is because doctors are not even equipped with enough knowledge to be able to effectively treat women.

Despite the gaps in women’s health care, women still live longer than men on average. There are many reasons for that, a few of which the way men carry excess body fat and how often men go to the doctor. Testosterone often causes heart disease in younger men, but estrogen on the other hand, protects women by preventing heart disease. According to Harvard Business School, women are 76% more likely to visit a doctor yearly. These visits are vital to one’s health, for example cancer can be caught during yearly checkups at an earlier stage, potentially saving your life.

Another reason that men do not live as long might is related to mental health stigma. According to the NIH, “Men die by suicide nearly four times as often as women.” Due to the social, cultural and gender stigma, men may be scared to talk about their mental health which can lead to a decline in mental health.

The world needs to start bridge the gap in women’s healthcare, and the good news is that there is progress. Seatbelts are starting to be tested with female dummies and there have been more research on women, such as how heart attacks effect women. Other ways we can work to be more equitable is through medical trials. Medical trials should consist of half men half women participants to have equal data on both genders. Research should start including women and research that excluded women in the past should be reviewed. With these suggestions, perhaps the world can finally bridge the gap between male and female health care.