This article is based on the Master thesis «Diving into practice. A qualitative analysis of certain aspects in physiotherapy treatment». The basis for this discussion is that the relationship of the physiotherapist and the patient will be a crucial part of the treatment. In this material they are both women.
The analysis shows from the very beginning of the treatment that both women communicate in a very
limited and inhabited way. The bodily experience of the patient is given little attention from the physiotherapist. By her way of communicating the physiotherapist turns the patient´s body into an object
that she has an intention to alter. The therapist changes her roles between being determined and jovial throughout the treatment. Through a perspective of social gender this article focuses upon the experiences of femininity and womanhood, how these experiences are communicated through joviality.
This knowledge gives new perspectives and meaning to the context of treatment. By making the treatment interaction more transparent and open knowledge is developed on how body and gender are involved and expressed in physiotherapy practic