Zweigeschlechtlichkeit und hierarchische Geschlechterordnung

Abstract

The aims of this article are to illustrate how the discussion on inclusion of the social category gender has changed, which theoretical concepts determine this discussion and to which extent an institutionalisation has taken place with the objective of reducing gender-specific discrimination in the areas of health care as well as health sciences. To show this, in the first section three theoretical concepts will be explained which allow the meaning of gender as a central social category to be understood. These three concepts are (1) approaches to analyse gender as a social structural category, (2) social-constructivist approaches and (3) approaches that deal with symbolic-discursive orders. The second section presents an historic outline of female and gender-specific health sciences over the last 30 years with its different phases of discussion, especially regarding the process of the inclusion of gender in research work on health. The final third section relates the methodological thoughts deducted from the theoretical concepts as well as the historic discussion, resulting in the concepts of "gender bias" to the action-orientated approach of "gender mainstreaming".