Should men be gynecologists?

At the end of the day, things like empathy and scientific knowledge are not specific to gender.

Diem’s cofounder, Emma Bates, breaks down one of last week’s most popular posts.

But first, here’s what else people are talking about on Diem:

1. Home Alone Naked...?

2. I don’t like my husband anymore

3. Is it normal i feel soooo guilty for ruining the environment?

4. Could I (30) with endometriosis, be going through perimenopause now?

5. I hate the current dating culture, am I gonna die alone?

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As it was Equal Research Day today, I thought this would be a timely question to address. I loved reading people’s responses to your question in Diem. My short answer is it’s less about the Y-chromosome in the room and more about trust, consent, and personal context. But let’s unpack this.

As you know, I love a little history deep-dive. For centuries, women’s reproductive care was handled by other women, specifically midwives or local wise women. Midwives knew the drill long before the medical world we know today made an appearance. It was in the nineteenth-century that obstetrics professionalized in a very old-boys-club way (women were not allowed to attend medical school) and these male surgeons pushed midwives out. Fast to forward to today: The specialty is more gender-balanced, yet OBGYNs still skews male in many regions, especially in higher-prestige subspecialties like oncology and surgery. The sidelining of midwives may have contributed to the vast gender data gap we see in medical research too, as centuries of knowledge was disavowed as not being “official”.