Lecture 13 and 14 Flashcards
What is the definition of sex?
Sex refers to our biological characteristics
Especially our reproductive organs
What is the definition of gender?
The sex that we identify with
What are sex-specific conditions?
Conditions that occur entirely (or almost entirely) in one sex
What 4x sex-specific conditions are there?
- Different reproductive organs
- Different hormonal levels
- Sex-specific genetic conditions
- Other Physiological characteristics
Which Non-Sex-Specfic conditions do Males have higher rates of?
biological predisposition
- Chronic conditions such as: Coronary heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease, emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney disease, atherosclerosis
- Traumatic injuries from motor vehicle and work-related accidents
- Successful suicide attempts-self medicating for mental health problems
Which Non-Sex-Specific conditions do Females have higher rates of?
- Chronic conditions such as Anaemia, thyroid conditions, migraines, arthritic, colitis, eczema
- Acute conditions such as Upper Respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, and other short-term infections
- Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression (suicide attempts)- could be better at asking for help
What is the general perception with regards to gender differences in health?
Females have a higher morbidity
Males have a higher mortality
-woman get sicker but men die quicker
-not universally true, reversal of gender difference in developing countries
What are some key aspects of mortality statistics?
Rely on accurate recording on death certificates
come issues with classification of ‘underlying’ and ‘contributing’ causes of death
Overall mortality data is fairly complete, so not a major issue for gender comparisons
What are morbidity statistics dependant on?
Morbidity depends on the validity and reliability of reporting and recording of illness and disease
e. g. females visit the doctor more often - more pronounced difference in ‘youth’ and ‘adult’ populations (15-64 yrs)
- mental health, pregnancy, reproductive, problems (not actually sick) therefore if you are just counting the number of visits you need to be able to factor these out + GPs protective about medical records
What are the 2x main categories of explanations?
Biological 1. Genetic 2. Prenatal and Postnatal hormone exposure Social 1. Material and Structural 2. Cultural and Behavioural 3. Social Selection 4. Historical Events
What is a “Biological Explanation”?
That the health inequalities are due to genetic differences, as well as prenatal and postnatal hormone exposure
What is a biological explanation for why do woman live longer?
Pysiological systems needed for pregnancy and childbirth (e.g. stronger immune system, estrogen) protext from deadly conditions (e.g. heart disease)
BUT a large proportion of male deaths have nothing to do with these biological differences
-more social than biological (hard to say biological testosterone leads to higher motor vehicle deaths-driving simulator, given testosterone)
What is a biological explanation for why do woman get sicker?
Pysiological systesm needed for pregnancy and childbirth lead ot higher risk of less deadly conditions e.g. Autoimmune disorders
BUT autoimmune disorders and other biologically explainable conditions account for a small proportion of female morbidity
What is a “Social Explanation”?
The the health inequalities are due to resource, cultural and social selection differences between males and females, along with their historical origins
What are the 4x points in the social explanation for Why do woman live longer but get sicker?
- Differential access to resources, both material and structural
- Different gender roles, expectations and societal norms
- Discrimination that leads to (or are a result of) gender differences in resources and/or culture
- historical events have led to gender differences in resources, culture and social selection; plus historical events may impact on men or woman directly
What are 7x examples of Material/Structural evidence?
Males more likely: sicker (females) 1. higher paying jobs 2. in leadership roles 3. Females in unpaid jobs 4. Females be a solo parent 5. Females at home caring for children 6. Policies and legislation do not make it easy to have children AND have a career (leave and ensure reemployment by same work) killing(males die quicker) 7. Policies and legislation do not adequately protect people from risk (male domainated) jobs
What sort of evidence is this: Policies and legislation do not adequately protect people from risk (male dominated) jobs?
Material and Structural evidence
What are 6x examples of Cultural and Behavioural Evidence?
- Males have more unhealthy behaviours- eating, drinking, smoking etc (morbidity + mortality eventually)
- (culture and behaviour-mortality) risky behaviour is more acceptable and even encouraged/expected among males more than females
- Females have a culture of expressing their emotions whereas males tend to hold them in
- Violence and criminality is more part of the male culture
- Family and childcare giving is still largely expected to be done by females whereas males are expected to pursue their careers
- The female body image norm portrayed in the media is often less healthy than the male body image(jack black, worse for females)
What is some social selection evidence?
- Males are more likely to get selected for many jobs (both positive and negative impacts on health)-employment discrimination
- Woman find it very difficult to return to work after having their baby
- Women are less likely to be selected for leadership roles
- Women are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace
What is some evidence for historical events?
inequalities are dynamic/always changing
- Religious doctrine around gender roles
- Separation of church and state (set up in
- industrial revolution - woman at bottom end/low pay and labour treatment
- Women’s rights movement(s)- voting, education etc
- Various legislations protecting the safety of workers
- Legislation around drunk-driving, smoking(+protection for quiting) etc (sometime female higher rates)
What are issues to consider with gender related health inequalities?
- Tendency for research to explain gender differences in health using either ‘biological’ OR ‘social’ explanations, NOT BOTH(not multidisciplinary)
- We know more about ‘male’ dominated conditions because more research has been done with males(cardiovascular higher rates males has more
- Gender differences in health have changed/Dynamic, therefore, and will continue to change over time-need to get onto changes quick
- Even when the condition is sex-specific the ‘social’ factors can often help to explain the magnitude of the health issue (mortality relating to breast cancer, due to changes in) (prostate cancer doesn’t get attention- breast cancer high priority)
What are some conclusions about gender differences?
Gender differences in morbidity and mortality can be explained in a number of ways (biological vs social)
When gender is considered alongside other variables, it is unclear if morbidity of woman is actually higher than men
No doubt about higher mortality in men
Gender differences will change over time-dynamic
Social explanations are an important part of understanding gender differences in ehalth
What is the relationship between ageing and health?
not just biological ageing process, that we get more health problems as we get older and our bodies wear out
Different health problems face different age groups, and do not always become more prevalent in older people
The frequency, severity and impact of health problems faced by difference age groups are often the result of social factors
What are chronological groups?
Groups who share the same chronological age range Child: 0-14 Youth 15-24 Adult 25-64 Older people 65+
