The Gender Pain Gap and How Women Are More Affected

One of my favourite Nigerian feminist poets is Wana Udobang. She is a performance poet, radio presenter and actress who has also dabbled into modelling.

Ms. Udobang has three poetry albums to date. Two of them are In Memory of Forgetting and Transcendence. Her work explores feminism, body and beauty standards and what it means to be a Nigerian and African woman in a deeply sexist society.

In one of the poems in Transcendence, she spoke on how she learned that trauma could be passed along through bloodlines. 

This is such that people who had undergone severe pain could end up remitting the pain to future generations or living with other bodily harm themselves while alive.

I was reminded of her poem when about a week ago I stumbled on an article which said that Black women and women of colour are developing autoimmune disorders courtesy of pain and trauma.

Now, closely related to the above examples is what has been termed: “The Gender Pain Gap”.

According to an article by Reckitt, the Gender Pain Gap refers to “the phenomenon in which pain in women is more poorly understood and more mistreated compared to pain in men due to systemic gaps and biases.”

There is no doubt about the fact that women experience pain. Infact, it seems that to be a woman means to live in expectation of pain. From childbirth to menstrual pain to ovulation cramps and even socially induced pain from sexual assault and domestic violence.

However, the gender pain gap posits that women experience more pain in a manner that can be avoided and that sexism and lack of empathy towards women in pain arises courtesy of sexism and misogyny.

For example, amongst Black women in the diaspora, there is the sinister belief that Black women can handle any pain that comes their way. Biological pain too. This is such that even in instances of childbirth and labour, doctors are less empathetic to the needs of Black women because a part of them believes that Black women can handle pain.

Researchers believe that this lack of empathy and this idea that Black women are “strong and above pain” is one of the leading factors as to why Black women in the diaspora have the highest maternal mortality rates.

It is not only in childbirth and labour that the gender pain gap and lack of empathy/access to proper care reveals itself. For some women who do not want children, their wishes tend to be overlooked by misogynistic doctors. 

This is such that even if those women are in pain from reproductive illnesses and can only be relieved of that pain when their uteruses are removed, doctors place the desires of a hypothetical husband above theirs and refuse to do a hysterectomy. This thereby leaves the women in even more pain and life threatening medical situations.

Speaking with Precious, she says that due to the poor level of empathy in hospitals, she is wary of them. 

In her words: “Since I became an adult, I try to avoid hospitals as much as I can because of the air of dismissiveness from most nurses and doctors. My most horrible experience was getting an IUD. 

I had gone in thinking I’d get those 3-months injections but was advised to get an IUD for more effective measures. I was only informed of the pros, not the cons. When they wanted to insert it, I asked if I could be sedated or something. They said no, that the pain wasn’t so much, after all I’m already ‘taking dick.’ Safe to say the procedure was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life, and I suffered terrible cramps and back pain for weeks after. I had to remove it in less than 3 months because I was literally in pain throughout the period I had it, and ended up getting an infection.”

She went on to say: “In terms of solutions, I’d say healthcare workers should try to listen more to the patients and treat from a place of care and empathy.

I would also say they should ensure the patient is also well informed of their condition or the solutions being prescribed.”

The reality is that women’s issues are not seen as human issues and this extends even to how our pain is treated and regarded.

Until women’s issues are seen as valid, the gender pain gap will always exist and that must change.

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