The feminist and anthropologist in me is always interested in gender-specific social behavior, so this tidbit in the Boston Globe caught my eye:
In category after category, women do a better job of taking care of their health. They smoke less and drink less, and they’re less likely to be overweight. They eat more fruits and vegetables. They have their cholesterol tested more regularly.
…..
To be sure, the gap between men and women varies in magnitude, depending on what’s being measured. It’s fairly narrow when it comes to tobacco use, with 17.3 percent of men identifying themselves as current smokers, compared with 15.5 percent of women. But men are dramatically more prone to report problems with weight and alcohol use.
The psychologist in me wants to know why are women, on average, healthier than men?
The article speculates maybe it’s because our social messages teach men “we’re stronger than depression, we’re stronger than alcoholism, we’re stronger than cancer or heart disease – or we should be.” So they are less likely than women to conscientiously engage in activities such that help prevent those things, like eating well and exercising.
Maybe. But perhaps it’s because our social messages teach women we’re supposed to be thin hardbodies, so we are more likely to eat well and exercise. Healthy insides are a side effect of hottie outsides.
Not that I’m complaining. Women can only rule the world if we are healthy, and why not look great doing it?
Technorati Tags: women’s health, men’s health
Nah. Men get a hangnail and moan and whine. Women suck it up and keep on truckin’. A little gas or heartburn, men are in the E.R. Women take Tums. There’s work to be done. When men really do get sick, they’re flat on their backs, toes in the air, waiting for the doc or the undertaker. Women say, “What can you give me that will let me stay out of bed and get things done?”
It’s in our genes.
In other words, perhaps women are healthier simply because they don’t have time to be sick!