Gender, Ethnicity And Health

Question 1

Define Sex, Gender & Transgender

Answer 1

Sex = biological/physiological characteristics that are used to categorise people as male or female

Gender = socially constructed roles, behaviours, attributes that a given society considers appropriate for males and females

Transgender = umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex/gender they were assigned at birth

Question 2

Define Gender Identity and how can you respect it?

Answer 2

Internal sense of one’s own gender

Respect by using the correct pronouns: he/she/they

Question 3

Outline the links between gender and health

Answer 3

Women live longer than men but have higher mental illness rates and spend a larger proportion of their lives in poor health with disability

Differences can be explained by:
Biological explanations - immune system differences/hormone differences/cardiovascular reactivity/neuroendocrine responses/boys more vulnerable in infancy
Differences in health behaviour, gender roles and exposures, use of health services

Question 4

How are patterns of health behaviour different between men and women?

Answer 4

Men have higher smoking rates, consume more alcohol, higher rates of hospital admission for alcohol-related problems, strong association between heavy drinking depression and suicide

Women have lower smoking rates but more difficulty quitting and women more likely to see GP if concerned

Question 5

Define Race and Ethnicity

Answer 5

Race = discredited term - historically used to argue for the existence of inherent biological differences between populations

Ethnicity = long shared history of which the group is conscious as distinguishing it from other groups + cultural tradition of its own

Question 6

Outline the diversity of the UK population and basic ethnic health inequalities (what’s a good measure too?)

Answer 6

Large scale migration since late 1940s

Ethnic minority groups generally have poorer health than white majority population

Infant mortality rates/1000 live births are lower in ethnic minority groups in the UK

Question 7

What are some explanations for differences in ethnic health inequalities?

Answer 7

Genetic/biological - epigenetics/outdated biological concept of race and population specific alleles
Cultural - health beliefs/behaviours
Migration - usually have better health than population of origin but tends to revert from stressful experience of settling in new environment
Social deprivation - socioeconomic factors affecting access to health resources+ more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods
Racism - direct, indirect, institutional