Ecological contexts in the study of women's reproductive functioning: insights from feminist biology

Feminist biology provides a critical lens through which scholars can analyze past, and conduct current, research. Biomedical models of women’s health have sometimes pathologized the normal variation of women’s reproductive physiology, and neglected aspects of physiology considered too difficult to measure. A more expansive understanding of women’s health is crucial: as human populations become more industrialized and sedentary, inflammatory disruptions from immunological or psychosocial stressors as well as obesity play an increasing role in women’s reproductive function. Further, research must continue in hard-to-reach places like inside the uterus if we are to resolve longstanding, widespread health concerns from endometriosis and fibroids. Clancy’s research program seeks to expand the model of human female biological variation in modern environments through fieldwork in the US and Poland, and novel laboratory methods to improve noninvasive biomarker detection. Finally, Clancy will discuss her new research program on the relationship between work environment and women’s science careers, as a way to initiate discussion on the importance of humane, inclusive science culture to productivity and innovation.