Chapter 5 Flashcards
(15 cards)
Sex
a multidimensional biological construct that encompasses anatomy, physiology, genes & hormones
Gender
a multidimensional social construct that is culturally based & historically specific & therefore constantly changing
Sex in Health
*Useful in exploration of sex-specific health concerns & different manifestations of illness signs & symptoms
Gender in Health
- Gender draws our attention to the context of health & illness
- Emphasizes that some differences are primarily social-environmental
Health Disparities Between Men & Women
- Men’s life expectancy :79.4 years
- Women’s life expectancy: 83.7 years
- Males are more likely to die at every life stage
Spitzer (2005)
Women are more likely to experience those years as unhealthy ones
- 11% of Canadian women suffer from chronic illness vs. 4% of men
- Related to gender roles, access to social & economic capital, geopolitical environment cultural values, sexism etc
Movement for Improved Women’s Health
- Women’s increased ability to engage in economy & politics
- Access to contraception & abortion
- Policies related to separation & divorce & child support
- Improved access to & emphasis on prenatal care & support, midwives & other birth aides
- Workplace policies related to maternity leave & anti-discrimination
- Efforts to address poverty-related issues
Gender, Education & Social Status
- Education & employment are closely intertwined
- Women still make less money
- Huge variations among women in terms of education
- More women live below poverty line than men
- Women are more likely to be single parents & to work in low paid jobs
- Women less likely to have work-related pensions, to be eligible for El
- Living in poverty influences mental health & health behaviour that have negative health outcomes
Pink Ghetto
Jobs that are not valued enough societally to be paid properly
Health as Women’s Domain
- Health is associated with feminine gender roles
- Many barriers to well-being exist related to women’s roles & life chances
- both informal health work & paid health care work is predominantly done by women
- Women are primary seekers of health information for children & other family members
Chronic Pain & the Medical Encounter
- Explores women’s experiences of chronic pain & the stigma associated with such illnesses
- Chronic pain & similar conditions face skeptics who do not view these illnesses as legitimate
- Typically affect women more often than men
- Therefore some women framed as “whining and complaining” rather than legitimately ill
Illness as a Moral Event
- Illness experienced as a moral event women need to work to demonstrate that they are legitimately ill to avoid stigma
- Women don’t want to look too healthy or they will be seen as faking illness
- They don’t want to focus on illness, but have to reinforce to others that they are ill
Stigma & Gendered Illnesses
- Other research shows the need to manage appearance & identify in relation to illness
- Both men & women face judgement & engage in Impression Management
- Men depict illness as threat to masculinity
- Women more frequently viewed as faking it & weak for not struggling through pain & living up to gender roles
Relations of Ruling
Dorothy Smith’s term for the way social processes are structured by the powerful in ways that shape our consciousness and our practices
Context
The social, political, physical and economic environment
