8.17.2004
Islam's Unexpected Benefits to American Hospitalgoers
The Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, has redesigned its hospital gowns to account for Muslim women's desire for more modesty. Apparently many Somali and other Muslim women in Maine had been skipping appointments so as not to be forced to wear the usual humiliating hospital gowns.
Like many experiences one has with institutions, the hospital gown seems designed, Foucauldianly, to discipline us into docility.
It's interesting that it takes the complaints and absences of women who cover up for religious reasons to bring something many of us have experienced to the notice of hospital staff. But hey, I'll take it, and I'm glad to see my home state of Maine displaying cultural sensitivity.
Like many experiences one has with institutions, the hospital gown seems designed, Foucauldianly, to discipline us into docility.
It's interesting that it takes the complaints and absences of women who cover up for religious reasons to bring something many of us have experienced to the notice of hospital staff. But hey, I'll take it, and I'm glad to see my home state of Maine displaying cultural sensitivity.
