In which ways have processes of medicalization been disempowering or empowering for women? In which ways have women's bodies constructed as deviant or ill historically?
a. Medicalization processes have disempowered women by pathologizing natural experiences such as menstruation or menopause, leading to the over-prescription of unnecessary medications and procedures.
b. Medicalization processes have empowered women by providing access to reproductive health care, such as contraception and safe abortion services, that were previously unavailable.
c. Women's bodies have historically been constructed as deviant or ill through practices such as the diagnosis of "hysteria" or the unnecessary removal of reproductive organs in the name of "treating" mental illness.
d. Women's bodies have historically been constructed as deviant or ill through the categorization of normal female sexual desire as "nymphomania" or "hypersexuality," leading to harmful treatments and stigmatization.