Underlying Influence :- 'Gender Roles In Health'

What is 'Gender' as a term? Gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed. The concept of gender includes five important elements : Relational Hierarchial Historical Contextual Institutional While, most people are born either male or female, they are taught appropraite norms and behaviours including how they should interact with others of the same or opposite sex within households, communities and workplaces.When individuals or groups donot 'fit' established gender norms they often faces stigma, discrminatory behaviour practices or social exclusion ; all of which adversely affect health. -World health Organisation (WHO) 'Nature gives you the canvas, society paints the picture' ; 80% of gender role development is environmental. 'Gender Roles' are the invisible rulebook that society hand you at birth, not written in your biology , but scripted by your culture, rehearsed through your upbringing and performed throughout your life; defining not just what you do, but who you are allowed to become. Lets review how roles influence health based on four pathaways- 1st one would be 'The double burden'; Women who work full-time still shoulders the majority of housework and childcare that leaves them with zero leisure recovery time leading to chronic fatigue directly costoing their health in exchange (majorly mental health; collective researches says women are more likely to be diagnosed with conditions like depression and anxiety). Second is 'The mommy penalty' that states, Women who take time off to raise children return to lower wages which also means lower chances of promotion further.Financial insecurity is one of the strongestpredictors of poor mental and physical health. Third one is cuurently most talked about term; 'The mask of masculinity' which simply means Boys who believe they must be “Tough” avoid help seeking in classrooms in early years later in clinics. Men supress symptoms, delay diagnosis, and die earlier partly because of this role so called expectation.(Public Health based research states that working age group of men are nearly 4 times more likely to die by suicide). Suicide rates are also high among vulnerable groups who experience discrimation based on gender that is among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTQ+) persons. Final and fourth is 'Stereotype Threat & Self-Esteem' When girls are reminded of gender streotypes(mentrual taboos,diverting them to feminine choices,pressure to get married etc)like , their academic performance measurably drops. Low self esteem from internalised gender perceptions feeds anxiety, depression, and disordered behaviours. 'The Roles We Play Are Making Us Sick' Gender roles are not just social scripts , they are silent determinants of health. The box society puts you in defines your stress load, your economic security, your self esteem , and how long you live. The household structure in which a person is raised has been shown to correlate with the degree to which the person as an adult believes in and follows traditional gender roles. It does make sense logically that family members become used to a structure they have lived with for all or most of their lives and interpret it as the norm, especially if they have not not experienced any other family situation. Members of such a family maynot even be aware of the exixtence of other functional family structures.As per Researcher allison kelly she found that a significantly higher number of girls than boys participated in household cleanup, a chore traditionally associated with women. Such childhood experiences are likely to produce adults who tend to follow traditional gender roles. Kelly found that parents had a tendency to guide their children towards certain occupations and interests based on the child’s gender. Gender influences people’s experience of and access to healthcare. The way that health services are organized and provided can either limit or enable a person’s access to healthcare information, support and services, and the outcome of those encounters. Health services should be affordable, accessible and acceptable to all, and they should be provided with quality, equity and dignity. Gender inequality and discrimination faced by women and girls puts their health and well-being at risk. Women and girls often face greater barriers than men and boys to accessing health information and services. These barriers include restrictions on mobility; lack of access to decision-making power; lower literacy rates; discriminatory attitudes of communities and healthcare providers; and lack of training and awareness amongst healthcare providers and health systems of the specific health needs and challenges of women and girls. Consequently, women and girls face greater risks of unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, cervical cancer, malnutrition, lower vision, respiratory infections, malnutrition and elder abuse, amongst others. Women and girls also face unacceptably high levels of violence rooted in gender inequality and are at grave risk of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, and child, early and forced marriage. WHO figures show that about 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Harmful gender norms; especially those related to rigid notions of masculinity can also affect boys and men’s health and wellbeing negatively. For example, specific notions of masculinity may encourage boys and men to smoke, take sexual and other health risks, misuse alcohol and not seek help or health care. Such gender norms also contribute to boys and men perpetrating violence – as well as being subjected to violence themselves. They can also have grave implications for their mental health. Rigid gender norms also negatively affect people with diverse gender identities, who often face violence, stigma and discrimination as a result, including in healthcare settings. Consequently, they are at higher risk of HIV and mental health problems, including suicide. Based on the research; Gender Differences on Risk Factors of Non-communicable Disease – A Community Based Cross-sectional Study in Central Nepal provided the findings that states that there are some variations regarding the magnitude of the risk factors among two genders.Significantly high level of tobacco and alcohol use was found among male respondents as compared to females whereas high proportion of female were found having risk factors realated to low fruits and vegetable consumption. Inorder to address the discrimation in the delivery of health services , Nepal introduced Gender responsive Budgeting since the 10th Five-year plan(2002) stating all national development plans mention gender responsive budgeting as a tool for gender eqality, but there is no legislation for gender responsive budgeting yet. Given the influence of gender on health in Nepal, putting gender perspective into health interventions is important. When applying gender lens to health interventions, it is important to remember that gender interacts with other forms of social exclusion such as ethnicity,age, and socioeconomic positions. Several tools are available for gender analysis, assesments and planning or programming which can help to identify gender issues and inequalities in health and address them with the tools for improved outcome. These tools include WHO gender analysis matrix(GAM),and gender analysis tools(GAT), gender analysis questions(GAQ), the WHO gender responsive assesment scale (GRAS).Human Rights and Gender Equality in Health Sector Strategy states how to assess policy that support the development of equity enhancing, gender responsive and human rights- based national health policies, programmes and strategies.Additionally , using ahuman rights framework in health planning and policy making can help in identifying and adequately addressing the biological and sociocultural factors that differentially influence the health of men and women. Gender roles act as an significant hand , shaping not only how men and women act but also how they live and die. Rigid traditional norms masculine stoicism and feminine self sacrifice contribute to preventable health inequalities, causing women to suffer from higher morbidity and men from higher mortality rates. Recognizing gender as a core social determinant of health is essential for reducing the burden of disease.By challenging harmful gender streotypes and implementing gender responsive health policies, society can improve the wellbeing of all, allowing fo healthier, longer lives regardless of gendered expectations. 'Gender roles are not Destiny , they are learned and therefore they can be unlearned as well. The health of a society tracks closely with how rigidly it polices gender. The prescription would be equity not just medicine.' Thankyou