Sociology / Unit 9 Soc 1577 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Social Construction of Medical Knowledge
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The idea
Medical knowledge itself is socially constructed, meaning it can reflect and reproduce inequalities of gender, class, race, and ethnicity across eras.
In practice
Medical advice given to pregnant women has shifted substantially across generations, revealing the era's assumptions as much as its evidence.
Where people slip
Calling medical knowledge socially constructed is not a claim that all medical findings are equally arbitrary or wrong.
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