Publisher’s note:
The publishers would like to confirm that for Volume 1: ‘Theoretical and Methodological Developments’ and Volume 3: ‘Gender and Healthcare’ Ellen Annandale was the lead editor and lead author of the introductions. Kate Hunt was the lead editor for Volume 2: ‘Understanding the Patterning of Health by Gender’ and Volume 4: ‘Gender and Health Behaviours’
The order in the printed book did not reflect this distinction, but we are happy to clarify the correct order.
Life expectancy is higher for women than men in almost every country, leading the World Health Organization to suggest that ‘their innate constitution’ gives women ‘an advantage over men’. However, this differential is far greater in some countries (e.g. Japan) than others (e.g. Qatar and Botswana) and rapid changes in the sex differential in life expectancy—as seen in the countries of the former Soviet Union in the last decades of the twentieth century—can only be explained by social factors. Research on health can thus demonstrate how the ways that different societies (historically and cross-culturally) create differential life chances and opportunities for men and women gets ‘written’ on people’s bodies.
Women’s mortality advantage does not translate into better health across all outcomes. For example, women are diagnosed with more depression and more joint pain and associated disability. For many years, it was assumed that the aphorism that ‘women get sicker but men die quicker’ (the so-called ‘gender paradox’) was an adequate and useful summary for gender differences in health, but recent research shows patterns are far more complex. This complexity poses exciting challenges for research on gender and health. Gender inequalities in health provide a window to understand how the social world ‘gets under the skin’ and how human health can be improved.
A tradition of research stemming back to at least the 1960s has highlighted the gendered assumptions that are built into the provision of healthcare. This occurs within the community where women generally shoulder the burden of caring for others, and in formal health systems where the division of labour is often highly patriarchal. Gendered assumptions about the kinds of health problems that men and women suffer from, and about the ways that they relate to symptoms of illness, may bias decision-making by service providers, often in ways that are not beneficial to health.
Issues and themes in and around gender and health such as these continue to generate a huge scholarly literature, and this new collection from Routledge’s Major Themes in Health and Social Welfare series meets the need for an authoritative reference work to help researchers and students navigate and make sense of it. The collection is made up of four volumes which bring together the best and most influential canonical and cutting-edge research. It draws together key works spanning theoretical developments and empirical research which uses a range of qualitative and quantitative methods. With a full index, and thoughtful introductions, newly written by the editors, Gender and Health traces the progress of research in this field and highlights the challenges for future research. It will be valued by scholars, students, and researchers as a vital and enduring resource.
Volume I: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. L. Doyal, ‘Sex and Gender: The Challenges for Epidemiologists’, International Journal of Health Services, 2003, 33, 3, 569–79.
2. N. Krieger, ‘Genders, Sexes, and Health: What are the Connections—And Why Does it Matter?’, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2003, 32, 652–7.
3. L. Birke, ‘Shaping Biology: Feminism and the Idea of "the Biological"‘, in S. Williams et al. (eds.), Debating Biology (Routledge, 2003), pp. 39–52.
4. A. Fausto-Sterling, ‘The Bare Bones of Sex: Part 1—Sex and Gender’, Signs, 2005, 30, 21, 1491–527.
5. S. Dworkin, ‘Who is Epidemiologically Fathomable in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic? Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality in Public Health’, Culture, Health and Sexuality, 2005, 7, 6, 615–23.
6. E. Martin, ‘The Egg and the Sperm: How Science as Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles’, Signs, 1991, 16, 3, 485–50.
7. S. Bell and S. Reverby, ‘Vaginal Politics: Tensions and Possibilities in The Vagina Monologues’, Women’s Studies International Forum, 2005, 28, 430–44.
8. J. Clarke, ‘Sexism, Feminism and Medicalism: A Decade Review of Literature on Gender and Illness’, Sociology of Health & Illness, 1983, 5, 62–82.
9. E. Kuhlmann and B. Babitsch, ‘Bodies, Health and Gender: Bridging Feminist Theories and Women’s Health’, Women’s Studies International Forum, 2002, 25, 4, 433–42.
10. M. Inhorn and K. Whittle, ‘Feminism Meets the "New" Epidemiologies: Toward an Appraisal of Antifeminist Biases in Epidemiological Research on Women’s Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 2001, 53, 553–67.
11. E. Annandale and J. Clark, ‘What is Gender? Feminist Theory and the Sociology of Human Reproduction’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 1996, 18, 1, 17–44.
12. J. Gupta, ‘Toward Transnational Feminisms: Some Reflections and Concerns in Relation to the Globalization of Reproductive Technologies’, European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2006, 13, 1, 23–38.
13. K. Davis, ‘Feminist Body/Politics as World Traveller’, European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2002, 9, 3, 223–47.
14. R. Connell and J. Messerchmidt, ‘Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept’, Gender and Society, 2005, 19, 6, 829–59.
15. R. Saltonstall, ‘Healthy Bodies, Social Bodies: Men’s and Women’s Concepts and Practices of Health in Everyday Life’, Social Science and Medicine, 1993, 36, 1, 7–14.
16. K. Charmaz, ‘Identity Dilemmas of Chronically Ill Men’, in S. Sabo and D. Gordon (eds.), Men’s Health and Illness (Sage, 1995), pp. 266–89.
17. E. Lee and E. Frayn, ‘The "Feminisation" of Health’, in D. Wainwright (ed.), A Sociology of Health (Sage, 2008), pp. 115–33.
18. I. Kawachi et al., ‘Women’s Status and the Health of Women and Men: A View from the States’, Social Science and Medicine, 1999, 48, 21–32.
19. N. Moss, ‘Gender Equity and Socioeconomic Inequality: A Framework for the Patterning of Women’s Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 2002, 54, 649–61.
Volume II: UNDERSTANDING THE PATTERNING OF HEALTH BY GENDER
20. W. R. Gove, ‘Gender Differences in Mental and Physical Illness: The Effects of Fixed Roles and Nurturant Roles’, Social Science and Medicine, 1984, 19, 2, 77–91.
21. C. A. Nathanson and A. D. Lopez, ‘The Future of Sex Mortality Differentials in Industrialized Countries: A Structural Hypothesis’, Population Research and Policy Review, 1987, 6, 123–36.
22. K. Helweg-Larsen and K. Juel, ‘Sex Differences in Mortality in Denmark During Half a Century, 1943–92’, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2000, 28, 214–21.
23. A. S. Aden et al., ‘Excess Female Mortality in Rural Somalia: Is Inequality in the Household a Risk Factor?’, Social Science and Medicine, 1997, 44, 709–15.
24. M.-Y. Yu and R. Sarri, ‘Women’s Health Status and Gender Inequality in China’, Social Science and Medicine, 1997, 45, 12, 1885–98.
25. S. Macintyre, K. Hunt, and H. Sweeting, ‘Gender Differences in Health: Are Things Really as Simple as they Seem?’, Social Science and Medicine, 1996, 42, 617–24.
26. Y. Chen et al., ‘Sex Difference in Hospitalization Due to Asthma in Relation to Age’, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 2003, 56, 180–7.
27. T. Torsheim et al., ‘Cross-National Variation of Gender Differences in Adolescent Subjective Health in Europe and North America’, Social Science and Medicine, 2006, 62, 815–27.
28. C. E. E. Okojie, ‘Gender Inequalities in the Third World’, Social Science and Medicine, 1994, 39, 1237–47.
29. J. G. Read and B. K. Gorman, ‘Gender Inequalities in US Adult Health: The Interplay of Race and Ethnicity’, Social Science and Medicine, 2006, 62, 5, 1045–65.
30. J. Hraba et al., ‘Gender Differences in Health: Evidence from the Czech Republic’, Social Science and Medicine, 1996, 43, 1443–51.
31. S. Kraemer, ‘The Fragile Male’, British Medical Journal, 2000, 321, 1609–12.
32. C. Bird and P. P. Rieker, ‘Gender Matters: An Integrated Model for Understanding Men’s and Women’s Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 1999, 48, 745–55.
33. P. L. Klumb and T. Lampert, Women, Work and Well-Being, 1950–2000: A Review and Methodological Critique’, Social Science and Medicine, 2004, 58, 1007–24.
34. M. T. Ruiz and L. Verbrugge, ‘A Two-Way View of Gender Bias in Medicine’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1997, 51, 106–9.
35. D. Stanistreet, C. Bambra, and A. Scott-Samuel, ‘Is Patriarchy the Source of Men’s Higher Mortality?’, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2005, 59, 873–6.
36. A. Mansdotter et al., ‘Parental Share in Public and Domestic Spheres: A Population Study on Gender Equality, Death, and Sickness’, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2006, 60, 616–20.
37. D. A. Lawlor, S. Ebrahim, and G. Davey Smith, ‘Sex Matters: Secular and Geographical Trends in Sex Differences in Coronary Heart Disease Mortality’, British Medical Journal, 2001, 323, 541–5.
38. K. Hunt et al., ‘Decreased Risk of Death from Coronary Heart Disease Amongst Men with Higher "Femininity" Scores: A General Population Cohort Study’, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2007, 36, 612–20.
39. E. Riska and H. Thomas, ‘Gender and Images of Heart Disease in Scandinavian Drug Advertising’, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2007, 35, 6, 585–90.
40. C. Emslie, K. Hunt, and G. Watt, ‘Invisible Women? The Importance of Gender in Lay Beliefs about Heart Problems’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 2001, 23, 2, 203–33.
41. R. W. Simon, ‘Gender, Multiple Roles, Role Meaning, and Mental Health’, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1995, 36, 182–94.
42. M. C. Lennon, ‘Sex Differences in Distress: The Impact of Gender and Work Roles’, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1987, 28, 290–305.
43. S. van de Velde, P. Bracke, and K. Levecque, ‘Gender Differences in Depression in 23 European Countries: Cross-National Variation in the Gender Gap in Depression’, Social Science and Medicine, 2010, 71, 305–13.
44. S. Payne, V. Swami, and D. L. Stanistreet, ‘The Social Construction of Gender and its Influence on Suicide: A Review of the Literature’, Journal of Men’s Health, 2008, 5, 1, 23–35.
Volume III: GENDER AND HEALTHCARE
45. A. Coote and L. Kendall, ‘Well Women and Medicine Men: Gendering the Health Policy Agenda’, in A. Coote (ed.), The New Gender Agenda (IPPR, 2000), pp. 149–60.
46. T. Ravindran and A. Kelkar-Khambete, ‘Gender Mainstreaming in Health: Looking Back, Looking Forward’, Global Public Health, 2008, 3, S1, 121–42.
47. H. Standing, ‘Gender Equity in Health Sector Reform Programmes: A Review’, Health Policy and Planning, 1997, 12, 1, 1–18.
48. M. Zimmerman and S. Hill, ‘Reforming Gendered Healthcare: A Assessment of Change’, International Journal of Health Services, 2000, 30, 4, 771–95.
49. E. Riska, ‘The Feminization Thesis: Discourses on Gender and Medicine’, Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 2008, 16, 1, 3–18.
50. R. Crompton and N. Le Feuvre, ‘Continuity and Change in the Gender Segregation of the Medical Profession in Britain and France’, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 2003, 23, 4, 36–58.
51. S. Bell and A. Figert, ‘Gender and the Medicalization of Healthcare’, in E. Kuhlmann and E. Annandale (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare (Palgrave, 2010), pp. 107–22.
52. J. Kempner, ‘Gendering the Migraine Market: Do Representations of Illness Matter?’, Social Science and Medicine, 2006, 63, 1986–97.
53. K. Hunt, J. Adamson, and P. Galdas, ‘Gender and Help-Seeking: Towards Gender-Comparative Studies’, in E. Kuhlmann and E. Annandale (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare (Palgrave, 2010).
54. J. Edwards and H. van Roekel, ‘Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment: Access to and Experience of Health Care of Same-Sex Attracted Women in Australia’, Current Sociology, 2009, 57, 2, 193–210.
55. S. LeCoeur et al., ‘Gender and Access to HIV Testing and Antiretroviral Treatments in Thailand: Why Do Women Have More and Earlier Access?’, Social Science and Medicine, 2009, 69, 846–53.
56. S. Epstein, ‘Sex Differences and the New Politics of Women’s Health’, in S. Epstein, Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research (Chicago University Press, 2008), pp. 233–57.
57. K. Davis, ‘Women as Patients: A Problem for Sex Differences Research’, Women’s Studies International Forum, 1984, 7, 4, 211–17.
58. D. Scully and P. Bart, ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Orifice: Women in Gynecology Textbooks’, American Journal of Sociology, 1970, 78, 4, 1045–51.
59. S. Fisher and S. Groce, ‘Doctor-Patient Negotiation of Cultural Assumptions’, Sociology of Health & Illness, 1985, 7, 3, 342–74.
60. P. Galdas et al., ‘Help Seeking for Cardiac Symptoms: Beyond the Masculine-Feminine Binary’, Social Science and Medicine, 2010, 71, 18–24.
61. A. Adams et al., ‘The Influence of Patient and Doctor Gender on Diagnosing Coronary Heart Disease’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 2008, 30, 1–18.
62. K. Beckett, ‘Choosing Caesarean: Feminism and the Politics of Childbirth in the United States’, Feminist Theory, 2006, 6, 3, 251–75.
63. C. Williams, ‘Doing Health, Doing Gender: Teenagers, Diabetes and Asthma’, Social Science and Medicine, 2000, 50, 387–96.
64. C. Ungerson, ‘Thinking about the Production and Consumption of Long-Term Care in Britain: Does Gender Still Matter?’, Journal of Social Policy, 2000, 29, 623–43.
Volume IV: GENDER AND HEALTH BEHAVIOURS
65. I. Waldron, ‘Trends in Gender Differences in Mortality: Relationships to Changing Gender Differences in Behaviour and Other Causal Factors’, in E. Annandale and K. Hunt (eds.), Gender Inequalities in Health (Open University Press, 2000), pp. 150–81.
66. W. Courtenay, ‘Constructions of Masculinity and their Influence on Men’s Well-Being: A Theory of Gender and Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 2000, 50, 1385–401.
67. C. Sloan, B. Gough, and M. Conner, ‘Healthy Masculinities? How Ostensibly Healthy Men Talk about Lifestyle, Health and Gender’, Psychology and Health, 2009, 1, 1–21.
68. J. R. Mahalik, S. M. Burns, and M. Syxdek, ‘Masculinity and Perceived Normative Health Behaviours as Predictors of Men’s Health Behaviours’, Social Science and Medicine, 2007, 64, 2201–9.
69. B. Gough, ‘Real Men Don’t Diet’: An Analysis of Contemporary Newspaper Representations of Men, Food and Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 2007, 64, 326–37.
70. A. D. Lopez, N. E. Collishaw, and T. Piha, ‘A Descriptive Model of the Cigarette Epidemic in Developed Countries’, Tobacco Control, 1994, 3, 242–7.
71. A. Amos and M. Haglund, ‘From Social Taboo to "Torch of Freedom": The Marketing of Cigarettes to Women’, Tobacco Control, 2000, 9, 3–8.
72. B. A. Toll and P. M. Ling, ‘The Virginia Slims Identity Crisis: An Inside Look at Tobacco Industry Marketing to Women’, Tobacco Control, 2005, 14, 172–80.
73. F. C. Pampel, ‘Global Patterns and Determinants of Sex Differences in Smoking’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2006, 47, 466–87.
74. Y. Fukuda, K. Nakamura, and T. Takano, ‘Socioeconomic Pattern of Smoking in Japan: Income Inequality and Gender and Age Differences’, Annals of Epidemiology, 2005, 15, 5, 365–72.
75. M. M. Schaap et al., ‘Female Ever-Smoking, Education, Emancipation and Economic Development in 19 European Countries’, Social Science and Medicine, 2009, 68, 1271–8.
76. L. Michell, ‘Loud, Sad or Bad: Young People’s Perceptions of Peer Groups and Smoking’, Health Education Research Theory and Practice, 1997, 12, 1, 1–14.
77. H. Graham, ‘Women’s Smoking and Family Health’, Social Science and Medicine, 1987, 25, 1, 47–56.
78. N. Ng, L. Weinehall, and A. Ohman, ‘If I Don’t Smoke, I’m Not a Real Man: Indonesian Teenage Boys’ Views about Smoking’, Health Education Research, 2007, 22, 6, 794–804.
79. S. Barraclough, ‘Women and Tobacco in Indonesia’, Tobacco Control, 1999, 8, 327–32.
80. F. Perlman et al., ‘Trends in the Prevalence of Smoking in Russia During the Transition to a Market Economy’, Tobacco Control, 2007, 16, 299–305.
81. R. Lemle and M. E. Mishkind, ‘Alcohol and Masculinity’, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 1989, 6, 213–22.
82. S. Kuntsche, R. A. Knibbe, and G. Gmel, ‘Social Roles and Alcohol Consumption: A Study of 10 Industrialised Countries’, Social Science and Medicine, 2009, 68, 1263–70.
83. B. P. Hinote, W. C. Cockerham, and P. Abbott, ‘The Specter of Post-Communism: Woman and Alcohol in Eight Post-Soviet States’, Social Science and Medicine, 2009, 68, 1254–62.
84. A. Mansdotter, M. Backans, and J. Hallqvist, ‘The Relationship Between a Less Gender-Stereotypical Parenthood and Alcohol-Related Care and Death: A Registry Study of Swedish Mothers and Fathers’, BMC Public Health, 2008, 8, 312.
85. R. de Visser and J. A. Smith, ‘Alcohol Consumption and Masculine Identity Among Young Men’, Psychology and Health, 2007, 22, 5, 595–614.
86. A. C. Lyons and S. A. Willott, ‘Alcohol Consumption, Gender Identities and Women’s Changing Social Positions’, Sex Roles, 2008, 59, 694–712.
87. C. Hamelin et al., ‘Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adult Binge Drinking Among Kanak Women in New Caledonia’, Social Science and Medicine, 2009, 68, 1247–53.
