BIOLOGICALLY- DETERMINEDBIOLOGICALLY- DETERMINEDDIFFERENCES: DIFFERENCES: SEXSEX
Sex and Gender: Sex and Gender: What is the difference?What is the difference?
HealthHealth
ANATOMICAL/PHYSIOLOGICALDIFFERENCES• GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITIES• RESISTANCES/IMMUNITIES
•NEEDSNEEDS•VULNERABILITIESVULNERABILITIES
SOCIALLY-CONSTRUCTEDDIFFERENCES: GENDERGENDER• ROLES• RESPONSIBILITIES• BEHAVIORS • EXPECTATIONS
POWER ACCESS RIGHTS ENTITLEMENT
Lower status for Lower status for womenwomen
Higher status Higher status for menfor men
Concept of ‘child’ not informative beyond identifying ‘age’; every child is first a girl or a boy with associated gender related expections and gender biases in access to food, education, love, and
health care
And, mothers’ perception of gender worth may color:
recognition of seriousness of illness amount of resources to expend on the child what kind of medicine best for child
What does this mean for children?What does this mean for children?
How? How? Equity and NeedEquity and Need
To attain equity in health, it is important to recognize that
females and males have different needs and constraints due both to biology and gender that must be
identified and adequately addressed.