Women's health theorizing: a call for epistemic action

The women's health community is challenged by global social and economic pressures. In order to ensure the salience of their empirical and theoretical research, women's health researchers are struggling with an analysis of what has successfully typified women's health and a critical awareness of the pressures that will mark its future. For many researchers, this has provoked a quest for new women's health paradigms to inform and spur action regarding the future of women's health. Re-theorizing women's health cannot be successful in the absence of an analysis of the epistemological orientation of women's health research. However, little has been done to examine these epistemological roots. This paper examines the historic epistemological foundation of women's health research in order to facilitate an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of women's health. This review is intended to guide future epistemic action necessary to advance the field of women's health research and highlight current efforts that may support work in this field.