What is the difference between biological sex and gender when understanding men's and
women's outcomes and health? - Answers sex is what is assigned at birth and gender is fluid
and multiple, socially constructed, what is masculine and feminine
How does biological sex explain different health outcomes? - Answers Women live longer, but
sicker.
Morality rates lower for women but higher morbidity rates.
Same diseases, different trajectories.
How does gender shape health for men and women? Through what pathways? - Answers -
Gender inequality -- different access to resource and power for women and men: Men more
likely to be insured and more economic resources for health and get education, women more
likely to be affected by gender inequality
- scientific understanding and health research: How we "see" bio processes and how we "do"
science
- health behaviors: Men more likely -- Occupational hazards, smoke, drink, risk-taking; less likely
to pursue mental health treatment
Women more likely to go to doctor and be gatekeepers of family's health
- health policy and health care: politicization of women's health
What is the connection between gender, stress, and health? - Answers - women lack control and
social power > high level of chronic stress > high levels of morbidity
- Stress increased for women with least social power or "multiple marginalities" (racial
minorities, low SES)
Why is an intersectional analysis important when considering gendered effects on health? -
Answers considers multiple social categories have overlapping systems of disadvantages
How do gender beliefs support and/or undermine health for men and women? - Answers ...
What role did the women's health movement play in emphasizing the gender effects on
women's health? - Answers ...
How might biological sex and gender intersect to shape health outcomes? How do Rieker et al.
explain the connections in their "Constrained Choice Model"? - Answers The connection
between gender and biological sex are intertwined in many social processes, primarily work and
family. Women are likely to care for their family over themselves, while men are expected to
devote themselves more heavily to their work
,- Social policies, community actions, work and family relationships (which are gendered) shape
individual choices (which are gendered) and biological processes (which are also both marked
by sex and gender; e.g. stress responses), which in turn shape health outcomes.
Given a health problem or disease, could you explain how both sex and gender might have a role
to play in shaping the outcomes? - Answers ...
How might cultural norms about masculinity shape health behaviors and expectations? What
does Courtenay say about this? - Answers Men are supposed to be extremely masculine
The masculine ideals are to not show pain, be strong, etc
Men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors to prove their masculinity
Courtenay looks at health behaviors and constructions of masculinity
Men are active agents in constructing and reconstructing dominant norms of masculinity
What does it mean when we say that health care in the U.S. is politicized? - Answers ...
In what ways is health politicized? - Answers interest groups politics, politics shapes cultural
conversation about health issues, shapes individual choices and decision making, public health
policies
What do I mean when I say that politics is not merely about partisan issues, but also about
power? - Answers politics includes structure, distribution, effects of power in society
- debates for power and actions taken for power
Can you give some examples of how this might play out at the individual level? At the state and
federal levels? - Answers Individuals who have more resources have more power to make
choices, advocate interests, and influence distribution of resources
Use power to... direct conversation, pay lobbyists, influence FDa, choose healthy options, shape
policies
In what ways does Morone say morality and politics shape public health policy? - Answers -
Political past shapes present backdrop of public health policy
- "Most obvious story" - politics permeates fabric of community
Traditional models of American politics Morone say help explain our current system of morality-
laded health policy decisions - Answers Individualism (puritanism) - limited government, self-
interest at odds with medical science
, Communal Tradition (social gospel) - collective goals and common good are focus, some
collective goals dangerous
What are the two frames of morality politics that he discusses? - Answers Puranitism - focuses
on sinful behavior and individual accounted for personal choices
Social gospel - looks at fixing unjust system and taking care of others victimized by the system
How do both of these frames shape the moralizing of certain public health problems? - Answers
Puritan: It takes a long time for certain public health problems to become not taboo, or not
frowned upon and to be addressed
HIV/AIDS - Historically thought of as a "gay disease," was taboo
Only when prominent individuals got it and advocated for its research and cure did it slowly
become "accepted" in society
Sometimes, it takes important people (celebrities, religious figures, politicians) advocating for or
getting a disease for a problem to begin to be addressed
Social gospel: all public health problems are "moral," because it's not the individual's fault
What is "moral" or not is the fault of society and its effects on an individual
Be sure to be able to apply his conceptual model to theorize about different public health issues
today, especially with regards to school-based clinics and obesity that he references in detail. -
Answers School based clinics:
Puritan - Cultural and religious conservatives feared that providing treatment and resources
would implicitly condone negative behaviors like illegal drug use, sex, drinking, etc; took
authority away from parents
SG - provided equal opportunity (esp. for low SES who can't afford health care)young people
need counseling and resources on sex and substance abuse to help them avoid negative
behaviors or to help them stop/deal with them
In the end, the clinics were implemented, but the moral criticism against the clinics shaped the
clinics and their policies
Obesity
Puritan - Followed the American individualism ideas, and tackled obesity at the individual level