While discussions around gender often focus on individual comfort, structural realities complicate the question of choice. In many conflict-affected zones, underdeveloped rural districts, and low income communities, selecting a gynaecologist’s gender is not an option, and access to healthcare itself can be limited.
Public hospitals and clinics often face shortages of specialists, making male gynaecologists the only accessible providers of reproductive care. This reality is evident in conflict-affected zones such as the Gaza Strip, where repeated instability has restricted medical infrastructure. Similar shortages of specialist care are visible in remote districts across India and in informal settlements in cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
These structural limitations intersect with deeply rooted norms around female modesty. In India, girls are often taught from a young age to hide their bodies. Many women belong to communities where the Purdah system, a tradition of female seclusion that limits interaction with men outside the family, governs modesty. Many girls grow up being told “don’t say it out loud” when they are menstruating.
These cultural taboos, rarity of consultations, and the historically hierarchical doctor-patient relationship, where doctors were viewed as unquestionable authorities and patients as passive recipients of care, create a profound power imbalance.
In such scenarios, delaying or avoiding gynaecological care due to discomfort can lead to untreated conditions and serious health issues. This also highlights how individual experiences are shaped by larger structural gaps in healthcare access. However, the patients are not at fault.
Healthcare systems, medical institutions and policy frameworks must work toward expanding choices while ensuring that all environments prioritise dignity and safety.
In this context, the conversation around male gynaecologists moves beyond personal preference to a broader question of how healthcare services can be delivered more respectfully, regardless of who provides it.