SOCI 365 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Coronary Artery Disease, Low-Density Lipoprotein, January 30
5 May 2018
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Lecture 10 – January 30th
Masculinities and Health
Women and Illness
• 25% more likely to report activities restricted by health problems
• Bedridden for 35% more days because of acute conditions
• Twice as likely to report anxiety and depression
• Longer life expectancy does not translate into better health
• Why is this the case?
o Relying on self-reporting – men are less likely to report
o Symptoms can manifest differently in women than they do in men
o Menopause, maternal mortality
o Genetics/physiology – more female than male fetuses spontaneously aborted
and stillborn
o Estrogen may protect from ischemic heart disease
o Testosterone may increase levels of LDL cholesterol (bad kind of cholesterol)
• Social/cultural: occupation, violence, education
• Behavior: accidents, motor vehicles, homicide, smoking
Social Explanations
• Reporting bias
• Women = lower income
• Different stressors; gendered nature of the relationship between stress and illness
o Certain stressors can kill men but not women
• Health behaviors
• Employment differences
Hypothesis about LE Gaps
• Social construction of masculinity
Hegemonic Masculinity
• Definition: the idea that a culturally normative ideal of male behavior exists, which
is calculated to guarantee the dominant position of some men over others, and the
subordination of women over men
• Represents an ideal that men are supposed to aspire to
• Not necessarily the most prevalent form of male expression, but most socially
endorsed
• Contributes to the subordinate position of women and other men
• Men (as a group) can be both in a position of power and also subject to societal
constraints for their roles
• Constraints lead to health differences between men and women and to men’s lower
LE
• Operates at many levels
o Structural, institutional, interpersonal, societal
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