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The Moral Case Against Equity Language
(www.theatlantic.com)
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this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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It's certainly better to use language that affirms people's humanity, but if a doctor were to use the first statement to describe me, my first thought wouldn't be "my doctor didn't use the right words, he must not see me as a human".
And that's where the disconnect is. There should be nothing wrong with describing a man who is diabetic as a "diabetic male". It's is accurate, and to the point. It is reductive, perhaps, but how is dehumanizing to describe someone as "male"? And describing someone as "diabetic" is perfectly fine as well if they are, in fact, diabetic and that plays a role in why they are seeing the doctor in the first place. Of course, their entire life is not defined by their diabetes, but their current medical visit may be.
Does every interaction have to be an affirmation of everyone's life story? Or is it possible that, sometimes, being reductive is exactly what is called for, and we shouldn't assume the worst in every interaction.
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.
Being reductive can have disadvantages though, if you're thinking of someone as "a diabetic" it can lead to cognitive traps and premature closure on diagonoses that may make someone miss important additional information or considerations. Medical records are also now immediately shared with patients, for better or worse, and it can sometimes be a shock to read. It may not be true for you, but many people can get a negative view of how they think their doctor must see them if the language in the notes isn't careful, and it may harm a working physician-patient relationship. How people's identities and diagnoses interact is complex to say the least, and can vary a lot between people.
I don't think every interaction needs to be an affirmation of a life story or something elaborate, but I think there are times when it can be easy to lose the humanity in a situation with bad results. A little cognitive reminder can be a helpful piece in dehumanizing places like the medical system (especially in the medical system, in which most health care providers are striving not to be dehumanizing against a heavy current in that direction).
By a doctor, I very much want to be seen strictly as the biological organism that they have spent their life studying. The fact that there are very few doctors, and every person born on this earth will be a patient, means that a standard for unvarnished and concise language is morally praiseworthy in terms of its service of the greater good.
I guess my feeling is, there's no good reason to get offended by the standard of language that the medical system operates in. There is an ocean of ill people who need help, and we're not all special, in that sense.
A doctor who is led into a cognitive trap by seeing "diabetic" on a chart, is a bad doctor. I'm not sure small refinements of language are the remedy for that doctor's deficits.