Wokeness in Our Practice

Woke is an adjective meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination." Originally referring to an awareness of social and political issues affecting African Americans, over time, it became increasingly connected to matters beyond race, such as gender and identities perceived as marginalized, and eventually appropriated by white people to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities beyond racial injustice, such as sexism, and denial of lesbian, gay, bisexual trans, queer, intersex (LGBTQI) rights. As its use spread internationally, woke was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017. Woke has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice. By 2020, the political right began using the term sarcastically as a pejorative for various leftist and progressive movements and ideologies, implying that wokeness was an insincere form of performative activism. The issue of wokeness in medical practice has as yet not found the due attention both in terms of discrimination in employment or in medical care. While the former lies in the personal responsibility of the employer as an individual or an institution, the latter lies in the accountability of our profession as a group. Nevertheless, dermatology has always shown a particular interest in ethnic skin and hair and is taking gender-affirming cosmetic dermatology at heart. Dermatologists are aware of dermatologic conditions with a particular predilection for the black population in terms of frequency and severity due to peculiarities of hair anatomy and hair grooming habits. Furthermore, there are ethnic considerations in hair restoration surgery essential for hair transplant surgeons to understand so that esthetic results can be achieved. Dermatologists are experts in many of the medical treatments and minimally invasive procedures gender-diverse individuals seek. Such procedures include laser hair reduction, neurotoxins, soft-tissue augmentation, body sculpting and contouring, and alopecia management.