An introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness

Medical knowledge is not purely scientific, but shapes and shaped by the society in which it develops. Disease are socially produced and distributedthey are not just a part of nature or biology. The key variables shaping the production and distribution of diseases are class, gender and ethnicity and the ways in which professional groups define conditions as diseases. Sociologists, depending on their model society develop different explanations of social shaping and production of diseases. Different Scholars have different point of view about health and illness perspective in a society. Some mentionable are:  Marxists emphasize the role of class  Feminists emphasize the role patriarchy  Foucauldians concern the way society is administered by professionals and those focusing on ethnicity, the impact of racism. Several studies revealed that some critical issues comes from different studies indicates that how women’s capacity control by society. Feminist health sociologists hold medicine and patriarchy responsible for controlling women by enforcing  Passivity  Dependence  Submission Feminist’s sociologists also blame multinational drug companies’ exercise wrongly towards women’s group for reinforcing  Sexist attitude  Medical authority  Patient powerlessness Women’s also face natural transition of women biology has also been musicalized. Such as:  Menstruation  Pre-menstrual syndrome  Menopause etc. Menstrual taboos are always exists in soc