Medical Bias: From Obesity to Genital Surgery

In her article on obesity, Murray describes medical bias and its basis in norms of morality. As well as declaring what is healthy, medical discourse positions people as either normal or pathological. Murray relates this to social discrimination against 'fat' people. This bias can also be seen in medical discourse around intersex people who are generally described and treated in terms of normality. There are ethnicity, class and gender biases that influence medical discourse around genital surgery in general. This is evident in the way 'female genital mutilation' is perceived in Western society compared with the general acceptance of cosmetic genital surgery.