Implementing Feminist Approaches in Public Health Leadership

Women’s studies and feminisms, like public health are interdisciplinary fields; involving various scholarly perspectives. For this, it should be quite feasible to understand that there is some overlap or great correlation between the two fields that may ultimately allow for cross-collaboration opportunities. There is great value in the research and practice carried out by feminists and women’s studies scholars, in terms of the identification and understanding of gender and power dynamics, which influence many factors that impact health outcomes; which should be considered, utilized, and applied by public health specialists, particularly when designing programs for restorative justice, or the mitigation of gender-based disparities.

Central to establishing these partnerships, is the ability to have discussions based on common terminology, as well as the willingness to apply feminist approaches and theorizing; which include the interrogation of precarity, exemplified by the feminization of poverty, mass incarceration and the disruption of the family unit, privatization of resources and the problem of access, as well as the impact of environmental degradation; to public health practice and research.