Systemic Inequity and the "Ideal" Standard

Systemic Inefficiency

• The system (US/Canada) is not "broken" but operates as designed, favoring specific groups.
• The Flexner Report (1910) exemplifies this, proposing to close women's and most Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) medical colleges, aiming to solidify a medical field dominated by white men.

The "Ideal Body" in Medicine

• The Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) centers an "ideal healthy body": a wealthy, white, cisgender, heterosexual, non-disabled male.
• Proximity to this ideal dictates who is deemed deserving of quality care and access.

Impact on Access and Treatment

• This ideal body concept extends to other systems, like policing.
• Intersectionality explains varying degrees of marginalization; e.g., white women receive more leniency from police than Black men.
• White women are "closer to the center ideal" than racialized women, impacting their access to supposed policing benefits.
• Mere access (e.g., getting in the door) does not equate to equitable opportunity (e.g., affording textbooks).