Introduction
The relationship between gender and health is complex (Dona and Low, 2014). This is because there is a profound influence of gender on health and wellbeing. First of all, gender is a state of being either a male of a female. The implications of being a male or female vary from one community to another because of differences in gender relations. These relations include; social norms, attitudes values, roles and expectations of the society. However, the effect of gender on health can either be directly or indirectly. For instance, women need compensation and relief or else, they are prone to suffer from emotional injuries such as stress and physical pain (Boslaugh, 2012). On the other hand, the male is more likely to ignore pain because of their muscular nature. In this case, the likelihood of a woman to consult a healthcare expert from treatment is higher than that of a male. Additionally, gender influences health and wellbeing indirectly. For instance, unhealthy practices such as the use of beauty care products led to foot binding among women in China and corseting in Europe. Gender practices play a role in being either healthy or unhealthy (Levack, 2013). According to statistics, women live longer than male, although they become seek more often, this is simply because men are more likely to engage themselves in unhealthy practices such as drinking and smoking which are threats to their health. This paper focuses on how being a male or a female can influence one’s health and wellbeing’s simply by narrowing down to gender relations such as norms, values, community expectations and gender inequality.
Discuss the Impact of Gender on Health and Wellbeing
Men and women have biological differences (Saini, 2017). Such differences arise from different reproductive, hormonal and genetic systems. A woman has the ability to conceive. They are therefore at high risk of being affected by their reproductive organs leading to disorders such as breast cancer, ovary cancer, and reproductive tract infections. Women also pose a threat to their life and the life of their unborn baby during giving birth. Although men do not conceive, they can have reproductive system diseases such as testicular and prostate cancer. Since men are not more prone to reproductive tract infections, more attention has been given to women in terms of offering health services. More services have been established to cater to the need of women than men (Kohen, 2010). Women have been provided with specialized services such as the introduction of the caesarean section, increase in breast cancer diagnosis. On the other hand, little or fewer efforts have been done to improve the state of the men’s reproductive disorders. This means that more health care services have established in favor of women than men leading to gender inequality which is a debatable issue on its own. Women have the protection of estrogen which keeps the cholesterol level in reducing the risk of heart diseases. This phenomenon is less common among men hence exposing them to diseases related to lack of estrogen. Women are at a high risk of contracting STIs than Men due to the nature of their reproductive systems (Carroll, 2018). Many STDs survive best where it is dark, moist and arm. Because the woman reproductive system is most interior, her body is more easily infected. Compared to the man, she also has a large surface area of tissue that certain STBs might affect. Furthermore, a woman’s body is exposed to infectious diseases for a longer amount of time after intercourse. These biological differences make women more likely to contract certain STDs. However, girls are highly exposed to sexual abuse by men. This abuse may lead to transmission of STIs affecting the girl’s health.
Another way in which gender affects health is the roles performed by each sex. Most communities believe that certain personality traits are associated with biological gender (Helgeson, 2016). This makes men have different roles from women. However, the roles can be lead to a negative impact on health because they leave a room for suppression and oppression. For instance, most people believe that men are aggressive. His aggressive nature gives a room for torture and abuse in a relationship exposing the women to physical and emotional harm. On the other hand, women are supposed to be submissive to their husband. She is supposed to satisfy his husband sexual needs and trying to change this fact leads to internal conflict, creates a low self-esteem and depression (Fitzgerald, 2017). In addition to this, the socio-economic advantages that come with gender have an effect on the health and wellbeing of people. For instance, women are labeled to low paying jobs that are “unmanly”. On the other hand, mathematical, physical and scientific based jobs are left to men. The tender jobs that are taken by omen are less paying than the tough jobs for men. These variables add to clarifications of contrasts amongst ladies and men in mental and mental prosperity specifically. Like this is the unpaid pretended by a lady in the general public? The part of ladies in the family is fundamentally dealing with the youngsters' prosperity. They organize the family's prosperity to the detriment of their own (Johnson, Turner, and Link). Societal expectations of a man or a woman have a total impact on his/her wellbeing. The distinct roles and relations of men and women in a given culture dictate their roles. Both gender differences and gender inequalities can give rise to inequalities between men and women in health status and access to health care. For example, a woman cannot receive needed health care because norms in her community prevent her from using modern treatment. In some areas, it is expected for men to endure pain leading to late health seeking.
Statistics indicate that the rate of morbidity is higher in women as compared to men (Notman, 2012). Most women spend many of their lives in poor health characterized by stress and depression. This is because of the associated causes of low payment and total workload discussed previously. Although women can live longer, they become sicker easily and this has led to higher morbidity rates among women as compared to men. The higher morbidity rates are associated with torture and abuse in the relationship (Schulz, 2013). According to research, the psychological and physical behavior of violent men contributes greatly to higher morbidity rates of women. Evidence suggests that women use healthcare services more than men. With this concept, it might be probably genuine that health problems are associated with stereotypical view off of women being sensitive and health problems passed on as feminine notion (Harway, 2012) When a man and a women visits a clinic with mental problem more attention is given to the man simply because men are tolerant and only seek medical attention when they are in total pain.
Men are more likely to die at an early age than women (Kaplan, 2012). This is because of their associated behavior of men. As compare to women, men are most likely to engage in factors that promote mortality such as heavy sport, fighting, drinking, and smoking. Drinking and smoking cause cancer especially lung throat and liver cancer. Although men think that cubing stress through drinking is a relief to stress, they pose a lot of danger to their health. Men especially young men who are looking for jobs and a better way of life end up in occupations that pose a high risk to their life. Occupations such as construction, policemen or soldiers contribute to high mortality among men due to high risks associated with them (Cockerham, 2007).
Gender has an effect on the access to health care resources. Most communities are still inclined to social constructions that make it difficult for men to gain access to healthcare. Some norms do not allow women to travel alone in order to seek medical attention, while some women have to get permission from their husbands to attend hospitals. These experiences are very challenging to women because they are restrained from gaining better health. In these cases, most women resolve to use self-care methods or consult unqualified nurses or use unlicensed medicines. There are also some preferences for seeking medical care. Most women prefer being attended to by female practitioners in seeking help related to reproduction as compared to men who can use the help of any practitioner.
Gender plays a role in gaining social awareness on health matters. Men are given a big consideration when it comes to education as compared to women (Huston, 2016). Most women are denied the rights to education and if given then they have limited access. With the role that a woman plays in the society, she needs to be well educated. Lack of education leads to a lack of awareness on nutrition and good health habits. Given the fact that the woman is the one who takes care of the family, she needs to be informed on good nutrition habits including eating a balanced diet for better health. Lastly, educated women are financially stable and able to make decisions on which type of food to eat. Low income is a major drive to poor nutrition and associated health disorders.
Conclusion
To sum it up all, both women and men have a role in influencing health and wellbeing. First of all, gender is a state of being either a male of a female. The implications of being a male or female vary from one community to another because of differences in gender relations. The framework discussed in this paper separated social norms, roles, expectations, and biological determinants of gender and their impact on health and wellbeing. The biological differences among men and women influence their capability to contract diseases or spread them. For instance, a woman is vulnerable to STDs her open reproductive system. Another way in which gender affects health is the roles performed by each sex. Most communities believe that certain personality traits are associated with biological gender. This makes men have different roles from women. However, the roles can be lead to a negative impact on health because they leave a room for suppression and oppression. For instance, most people believe that men are aggressive and therefore they can withstand pain. The rate of morbidity is higher in women as compared to men. Most women spend many of their lives in poor health characterized by stress and depression. This is because of the associated causes of low payment and total workload discussed previously. Men are more likely to die at an early age than women. This is because of their associated behavior of men. As compare to women, men are most likely to engage in factors that promote mortality such as heavy sport, fighting, drinking, and smoking. Gender plays a role in gaining social awareness on health matters. Men are given a big consideration when it comes to education as compared to women. Most women are denied the rights to education and if given then they have limited access. With the role that a woman plays in the society, she needs to be well educated. The involvement of both men and women in health education and intervention is shown to be an important determinant of heir successful uptake. This demonstrates that gender stereotypes need to be examined critically as they stand in the way of the improvements in health that are known to be effective.