Gregory Parham

BI-219X

Dr. Hinks

30 May 2018

Artifact 4: Male / Female Gender Health Gap

            There are many cultural constructs that can affect the gender health gap and there are some factors related to the issue of health differences in men versus women. The main differences between women and men are the reproductive functions, the concentration of sex hormones, and the expression of genes on the X and Y chromosomes. The health differences can be affected by lifestyle, life experience, and the behavior of that person. Some examples of health differences are iron deficiency affects women more, women are more likely to experience depression and anxiety disorders. Men health differences are Parkinson’s disease, skin cancer which means more time in the sun and not using sunscreen, autism, and Lou Gehrig disease.

Different factors affect health between men and women such as men engage more in behaviors that could lead to higher rates of injury and disease, plus men are capable of eating less healthful diets. Men are more susceptible to getting heart disease and that causes visceral which means body fat and that leads to a heart disease risk that many women don’t share. Men also don’t have estrogen that protects cholesterol levels. Women deal with a lot of health factors such as pregnancy, anxiety, depression, and menopause. Women on record have 55,000 more strokes than men each year due to different factors such as birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, and pregnancy raises the risk of that. Another different health factor is osteoporosis because women have thinner, smaller bones and less bone tissue than men and it causes bone mass loss.

The gender norm of masculinity during a recent research composed of midlife and older men expressed that masculinity fits the traditional perception of manhood but have negative and positive impacts on health and health behaviors. The positive effects of masculinity are that it can lead to a healthier lifestyle which can be described as physically active, eating better, and getting adequate rest. The negative effects of masculinity are the words “tough” and “reckless” are related to poor health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and a poor diet. Men use the concepts of hiding any sign of pain or suffering because they don’t want it viewed as a weakness. Men have also ignored poor health behavior because they didn’t want to change their habits are a part of masculinity prevents men from going to health care services. Men just feel the need to be in charge and probably lose control if they went to the doctors.