Impact of gender roles on physical health
- Men have a shorter life expectancy and are more likely to succumb to a serious disease
- Men engage in more physically risky behaviours because they are trying to live up to the tough stereotype of masculinity; women sometimes avoid strenuous physical exercise because it is not expected of them
- Women and men are vulnerable to different kinds of job-related illnesses and injuries because they do different kinds of work
- Women are more likely to be poor and the poor are more likely to be ill
- Women engage in more health-oriented behaviours like visiting the doctor
- Women and men may be treated differently by health care system
- Health research has neglected women in the past
Gender differences in mental illnesses
Women more likely to get depression
Men more likely to abuse alcohol
Eating disorders more common among women
Agoraphobia (fear of having a panic attack in a public place) is more common in women
Antisocial personality disorder (disregard for others feelings) is more common in men
Stereotypical gender roles are likely to implicate the ways women and men experience and express emotional distress and in the ways their symptoms are classified into particular diagnoses
3 biological explanations for women living longer than men
- Men inherit more sex-linked diseases;
- Estrogen may protect against heart disease; and
- Women’s lower metabolic rate and larger fat ratio may be protective.
Feminist therapy vs non-sexist therapy
Feminist therapy focuses on political and social causes of women’s problems more than on changing the client. Non-sexist therapy focuses on the individual person finding what’s best for her or him, regardless of traditional gender roles.
