SEX AND GENDER BIAS IN ANATOMY AND PHYSICAL DIAGNOSIS TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS

Objective.-To examine the sex and gender distribution of illustrations in two atlases, five anatomy texts, and five physical diagnosis texts . Design.-Of 4060 illustrations that were identifiable by sex and gend er in 12 commonly used anatomy and physical diagnosis textbooks, 3827 were categorized by two reviewers as female, male, or neutral. Results .-Females were represented, on average, in 21.2% of the anatomy text i llustrations; males were represented, on average, in 44.3%; 34.4% of t he illustrations were neutral. Of the nonreproductive anatomy illustra tions, a mean of 11.1% (range, 4.6% to 23.8%) depicted women and 43.1% (range, 35.4% to 56.2%) depicted men. Of nonreproductive anatomy illu strations, a mean of 45.8% (range, 27.2% to 59.9%) were neutral. Overa ll, the physical diagnosis text illustrations demonstrated a more equa l sex and gender distribution (21.5% female and 24.8% male). However, in the reproductive chapters of the physical diagnosis texts, females were depicted in a mean of 71.1% (range, 63.2% to 79.0%) of the illust rations, while in the nonreproductive chapters, females were depicted in 8.8% of total illustrations. Conclusions.-In anatomy and physical d iagnosis texts, women are underrepresented in illustrations of nonrepr oductive anatomy. The finding that males are depicted in a majority of nonreproductive anatomy illustrations may perpetuate the image of the male body as the normal or standard model for medical education.