Women and Healthcare in India: A Socio-Legal Analysis of the Contraceptive Burden on Women

Abstract

Healthcare is an unending and integral part of everyone’s life- from birth to death. Sickness doesn't discriminate, but man does. Every patient expects a diagnosis from a doctor who they believe prescribes what is in their best interest. But, when the system is patriarchal, the institution it establishes, the education it imparts, and the treatment it provides are all tainted with gender, biased towards one and ignorant of the other. The present article uses MacKinnon’s Social Construction to dissect the evolution of contraceptive burden on women. It begins by understanding how the burden of contraception fell on women using theoretical evidence. The second part of the article focuses on the materialization of the patriarchal structure in education and family unit. From exclusion of women as test-subjects and women specific maladies to construction of “appropriate feminine behaviour”, patriarchy digs its roots deeper. The third part of the article explains how aptly social construction is successful in building a discourse that meets its purpose. The author concludes by suggesting a way to change the discourse and poison the roots of patriarchy. Thus, the present article discusses the how the burden of contraceptive care falls on women from a socio-legal perspective and suggests measures to change the status-quo.