The gender health gap has been greatly reduced in recent years, but activists are still working for equality. Factors other than gender important to note for the health gap include age, socioeconomic factors, and race. In respect to health treatments, men and women have been treated differently in the past. With a traditionally paternalistic relationship with doctors, it may have been hard for women to speak up and address what help they really need. Birth control and other contraceptives were not always legal; only married women whose husbands approved could take birth control pills until 1972. When abortion, an ongoing, heated topic and conversation today, was illegal, it was the cause of more deaths than actually birthing the child.

In the past, women were often overlooked for many research studies, unless the topic directly or only applied to them. As man and wife, rape was legal, and men could objectify females in the workplace by sexually harassing them physically or firing them for not invalid actions such as not having sex with the man. Times are changing, however, as present day researchers and doctors have realized that women are in fact not “little men.” Women function differently but deserve equal opportunity and access to what they may need.

Research collected by the New York Times states that men have a lower life expectancy with higher rates of injuries, suicides, and death from chronic illness. It is also identified that a man’s pride may get in the way of a yearly check up or visit to a doctor. Gender transformative interventions promote lifestyles that steer away from gender-norms. These interventions endorse equal health care and treatment, blind to sex and gender.

Reflective tag: The differences between men and women should not lead to a health gap of inequality and unfair treatment. It is good that this has been brought to everyone’s attention and that there is constantly work being done to improve and close the gap. It is important for women as well as men to realize the importance of their health and seek the help they need when it’s needed. Timeliness is key, being both the doctors’ and patients’ responsibility.