Backwards and in heels: Trying to access healthcare as a marginalized person
I've had chest pains most of my life, ever since I was about 11 years old. As a child, doctors told my mom that I was probably fine, but if my symptoms ever changed or got worse, to come back.
Over the years, I've had waves of the pain being worse. A few years back, it got so bad that I was collapsing onto the floor in pain several times a week, so I made an appointment with the cardiologist. Upon seeing me, this older (60s-70s) white man scoffed and said "you probably just need to lay off the energy drinks."
"I don't drink those," I said, still feeling upbeat and hopeful about getting help at this point.
"Well you probably need to cut your soda drinking down to one a day," he said.
I said calmly, "I haven't had a soda in years." (I'm allergic to one of the ingredients in most soda so I stopped drinking all of it)
"Well then it's probably that you drink too much coffee." He was just CONVINCED that I was overstating my pain, and that it must be self-induced. At the time, when this man saw me, he saw "a young woman." Why does that matter? Well, because doctors tend to disbelieve women and minorities (race, gender, etc).
"I have a small cup at most in a day. I've had these pains my whole life but they've gotten much worse lately," maybe he just didn't get it yet.
"You're just too young to have heart problems," he scoffed again, starting to put my files away and prepare to leave the room. I was 27 at the time, and yeah, I WAS too young to have heart problems (caused by age), that is EXACTLY why I was there at the cardiologist... to get an assessment and get help.
But at that point, I realized this person would not help me, so I gave up.
This is a usual experience for women, racial minorities, those whose gender appears outside the binary, those with disabilities, and a slew of others. Medical care, everyday interactions with strangers, services, job seeking... for women and minorities, especially when there are multiple overlapping marginalizations, it's hard or impossible to get taken seriously, and it's a huge problem.
Minorities have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition and jobs, as those who are seen as societal defaults in America (white men, and less so but still more than many, white women). There are too many examples of this to count. I'm linking a few here in case anyone wants to read about them.
Women, especially black women, aren't trusted by doctors. Doctors tend to think women are always overreacting, which has led to many women going untreated and, because they are taught that their pain and discomfort doesn't matter, or that they should wait until they're dying, otherwise nobody will believe them.
Studies show that black women are often racially profiled by doctors when they're in pain. One of the most prevalent examples of this profiling is it that doctors assume black women in pain are just seeking drugs. Things like this are completely false, racist, and cause unbelievable amounts of harm.
And LGBTQI people often don't seek out healthcare because of discrimination.
When it comes to access to healthcare, minorities are basically forced to walk backwards in heels, up a mountain and through a river, while carrying a plate of food and avoiding ant hills and hungry dogs.
The discriminateion is real, documented, and devastating.
Over the years, I've had waves of the pain being worse. A few years back, it got so bad that I was collapsing onto the floor in pain several times a week, so I made an appointment with the cardiologist. Upon seeing me, this older (60s-70s) white man scoffed and said "you probably just need to lay off the energy drinks."
"I don't drink those," I said, still feeling upbeat and hopeful about getting help at this point.
"Well you probably need to cut your soda drinking down to one a day," he said.
I said calmly, "I haven't had a soda in years." (I'm allergic to one of the ingredients in most soda so I stopped drinking all of it)
"Well then it's probably that you drink too much coffee." He was just CONVINCED that I was overstating my pain, and that it must be self-induced. At the time, when this man saw me, he saw "a young woman." Why does that matter? Well, because doctors tend to disbelieve women and minorities (race, gender, etc).
"I have a small cup at most in a day. I've had these pains my whole life but they've gotten much worse lately," maybe he just didn't get it yet.
"You're just too young to have heart problems," he scoffed again, starting to put my files away and prepare to leave the room. I was 27 at the time, and yeah, I WAS too young to have heart problems (caused by age), that is EXACTLY why I was there at the cardiologist... to get an assessment and get help.
But at that point, I realized this person would not help me, so I gave up.
This is a usual experience for women, racial minorities, those whose gender appears outside the binary, those with disabilities, and a slew of others. Medical care, everyday interactions with strangers, services, job seeking... for women and minorities, especially when there are multiple overlapping marginalizations, it's hard or impossible to get taken seriously, and it's a huge problem.
Minorities have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition and jobs, as those who are seen as societal defaults in America (white men, and less so but still more than many, white women). There are too many examples of this to count. I'm linking a few here in case anyone wants to read about them.
Women, especially black women, aren't trusted by doctors. Doctors tend to think women are always overreacting, which has led to many women going untreated and, because they are taught that their pain and discomfort doesn't matter, or that they should wait until they're dying, otherwise nobody will believe them.
Studies show that black women are often racially profiled by doctors when they're in pain. One of the most prevalent examples of this profiling is it that doctors assume black women in pain are just seeking drugs. Things like this are completely false, racist, and cause unbelievable amounts of harm.
And LGBTQI people often don't seek out healthcare because of discrimination.
When it comes to access to healthcare, minorities are basically forced to walk backwards in heels, up a mountain and through a river, while carrying a plate of food and avoiding ant hills and hungry dogs.
The discriminateion is real, documented, and devastating.