I am keeping track of health articles on Substack as part of my research on representation. This article is right up there with all the other how-to articles that are illustrated with perfect white women (and men) who may well be illustrated with AI. I think it’s a monetizing feature, frankly, but that aside, it’s part of a long American tradition of making health about whiteness. Someone will write here that I am racist (against white people) or that it’s unimportant…and that’s their ignorance speaking. My background is in epidemiology and I teach pre-med kids in a university. Medical textbooks are white and male. Posters in doctors' offices are white and male - even in offices where women are predominantly patients. Break the tradition, health writers, and make your illustrations inclusive! Enough already. If you need to learn up on this, I offer this link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/09/health/black-fetus-medical-illustration-diversity-wellness-cec
Thank you for this important and thought-provoking comment. As a doctor and health writer myself, I appreciate you highlighting how deeply ingrained issues of representation are, not just in the content of health articles, but in the imagery and visual narratives that accompany them.
One thing I wasn’t entirely sure about: you mentioned that this may be a “monetizing feature.” Do you mean that these image choices are made deliberately to attract more clicks, subscribers, or advertising dollars because of perceived appeal? I’d appreciate any further insight you can share.
Thank you for your receptiveness. I study imagery and the invisible privilege embedded in images, primarily those in medical texts, which are attractive to some and not to others. See https://aperture.org/editorial/two-photobooks-consider-the-pervasive-fantasies-of-whiteness/: "Being white, as Daniel C. Blight reflects in his timely and perceptive book The Image of Whiteness: Contemporary Photography and Racialization (2019), is about much more than skin color. It is a “stubborn and often invisible power structure,” a ubiquitous ideology of domination, privilege, and violence that hides in plain sight as a default “natural identity” for white people. It is also a way of seeing the world.” What I mean — and my comment was oblique — was a reference to the sameness of the “wellness” and health sites here on Substack and actually in lots of advertising as well. The line is blurred. The Substack sites have lots of good information but the illustrations suggest it is packaged for a white middle-class audience. This may not be intended, but this bias is so reflexive that most of us don’t consider it. Once you start studying illustrations, whether in the NYT or your ENT’s office, you begin to see who the illustrations want to reach. And then…you can’t un-see it anymore.
I just found your substack and read this article. Wow, I learned SO much here! Very excited to read more of your work. Thank you for what you are sharing!
I’m 58 and during Covid moved from the city on to 3 acres, and now have a small herd of dairy goats. We eat a lot of yogurt, kefir and goat cheese. I have had such an easy menopause and have wondered if our big garden of berries & veggies and the raw milk have helped this, and now I think maybe yes!
Goat’s milk supports a healthier gut microbiome more effectively than cow’s milk, thanks to its richer prebiotic content, its ability to promote beneficial bacteria (like Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Akkermansia), and its immunomodulatory proteins. Fermented forms like kefir or yogurt further enhance these benefits.
Thank you for this article, Mike! I’ve always thought of menopause purely as a hormonal shift, never considered the microbial side. Fascinating !
I am keeping track of health articles on Substack as part of my research on representation. This article is right up there with all the other how-to articles that are illustrated with perfect white women (and men) who may well be illustrated with AI. I think it’s a monetizing feature, frankly, but that aside, it’s part of a long American tradition of making health about whiteness. Someone will write here that I am racist (against white people) or that it’s unimportant…and that’s their ignorance speaking. My background is in epidemiology and I teach pre-med kids in a university. Medical textbooks are white and male. Posters in doctors' offices are white and male - even in offices where women are predominantly patients. Break the tradition, health writers, and make your illustrations inclusive! Enough already. If you need to learn up on this, I offer this link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/09/health/black-fetus-medical-illustration-diversity-wellness-cec
What do you think this post is monetizing?
Thank you for the support!
My pleasure.
I’ll engage with a discussion on my main point. See also: https://www.cornellhealthcarereview.org/post/impact-of-medical-illustrations-disparities-on-patient-outcomes
Thank you for this important and thought-provoking comment. As a doctor and health writer myself, I appreciate you highlighting how deeply ingrained issues of representation are, not just in the content of health articles, but in the imagery and visual narratives that accompany them.
One thing I wasn’t entirely sure about: you mentioned that this may be a “monetizing feature.” Do you mean that these image choices are made deliberately to attract more clicks, subscribers, or advertising dollars because of perceived appeal? I’d appreciate any further insight you can share.
Thank you for your receptiveness. I study imagery and the invisible privilege embedded in images, primarily those in medical texts, which are attractive to some and not to others. See https://aperture.org/editorial/two-photobooks-consider-the-pervasive-fantasies-of-whiteness/: "Being white, as Daniel C. Blight reflects in his timely and perceptive book The Image of Whiteness: Contemporary Photography and Racialization (2019), is about much more than skin color. It is a “stubborn and often invisible power structure,” a ubiquitous ideology of domination, privilege, and violence that hides in plain sight as a default “natural identity” for white people. It is also a way of seeing the world.” What I mean — and my comment was oblique — was a reference to the sameness of the “wellness” and health sites here on Substack and actually in lots of advertising as well. The line is blurred. The Substack sites have lots of good information but the illustrations suggest it is packaged for a white middle-class audience. This may not be intended, but this bias is so reflexive that most of us don’t consider it. Once you start studying illustrations, whether in the NYT or your ENT’s office, you begin to see who the illustrations want to reach. And then…you can’t un-see it anymore.
I just found your substack and read this article. Wow, I learned SO much here! Very excited to read more of your work. Thank you for what you are sharing!
I’m 58 and during Covid moved from the city on to 3 acres, and now have a small herd of dairy goats. We eat a lot of yogurt, kefir and goat cheese. I have had such an easy menopause and have wondered if our big garden of berries & veggies and the raw milk have helped this, and now I think maybe yes!
Thank you for your comment.
Goat’s milk supports a healthier gut microbiome more effectively than cow’s milk, thanks to its richer prebiotic content, its ability to promote beneficial bacteria (like Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Akkermansia), and its immunomodulatory proteins. Fermented forms like kefir or yogurt further enhance these benefits.