Sex, Gender and Health (Biosocial Society Symposium Series)

It is widely recognized that men and women in societies all over the world have very different experiences of sickness and health. This collection brings together biological and social anthropologists whose work illustrates how these subdisciplines have approached the task of explaining such differences. It demonstrates that an understanding of science and culture, using the notions of biological "sex" and socio-culturally constructed "gender" are both essential for furthering analyses of men's and women's, boys' and girls' experiences of health and disease. It addresses the important topics of gender differences in parental care, cardiovascular disease, reproductive health, and psychological illness, and looks at how the medicalization of women and their relative absence from models of population health might affect their experiences of preventative health measures. This book will be particularly useful for students in human sciences or anthropology courses, or anyone wishing to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the subject.