Final answer:
The health system began to significantly acknowledge women's health and gender differences primarily during the 1970s, with the establishment of gender identity clinics, federal health initiatives, and feminist movements promoting legislative change. Despite progress, ongoing challenges remained, including medicalization of women's issues and inequalities in healthcare access and professional settings.
Step-by-step explanation:
The health system's shift towards acknowledging women's health and gender differences can be primarily traced back to the 1970s. This period marked a significant turning point with various universities and private doctors forming gender identity clinics to conduct reassignment surgeries, and feminist critiques highlighting gender-biased diagnosing. Additionally, the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s brought considerable progress in understanding and legally supporting gender identity, particularly with the formation of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) in 1979.
However, it wasn't only in the context of transgender health care that the shift occurred. In terms of women's health more broadly, the feminist movement helped make gains in equal opportunity for employment, health clinics, and increased access to education. Federal initiatives like the Sheppard-Towner Act of 1921 and actions such as those by Alice Paul in promoting an Equal Rights Amendment continued to push for legislative support in health-related areas.
Yet, despite these advancements, challenges persisted. Institutionalized sexism led to the medicalization of women's issues, often viewing them as deviant and in need of medical attention. into the 1980s and beyond, there was still work to be done to address wage gaps, discrimination in professional settings like those highlighted in Seabury et al.'s research on trends in the earnings of health care professionals, and inequalities in health care access, as noted in the difficulties faced by African American women and LGBT youth.