Talk:Gender disparities in health

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Notes for revision

Id like to add statistics under 2.3 section Bias against intersex people - such as the fact that "some 4% of all live births are intersextional"

Under the same topic I'd like to add Fausto Sterling's belief that instead of automatic assigned sex surgery at birth (often not even communicated to the parents), doctors should only perform sex surgery on a n infant if it is necessary to save its life. (same source).

Id also like to add more information on midwives, which was only mentioned once in the article under "female empowerment" section. I think I can add a section describing how midwives were not thought of as medical leaders due to their lower class/POC demographic. when they started their practices in the early 18th century, and how they provide an alternative to western childbirth, which can be dangerous and not in the best interest of the mother

References

Neutrality disputed

The article does a decent job of providing evidence to support the existence of gender disparities, but only those which affect women negatively. Very scant mention is made of the gender disparities faced by men, both in developed and in developing countries. The article, as another editor pointed out below, has a strong, but undue, feminist bias. Thus, I have added a "Neutrality Disputed" template to the article. This slant seems to be a continuation of a tacit pro-female bias in several areas of Wikipedia. Notice for example the disparity in quality and content between the articles Women's health and Men's health. More effort should be made to divide the article into two broad sections, one on the gender disparities faced by women (the current article) and the other on those faced by men.

Specifically, content should be added addressing things such as:

-the male suicide and mental health epidemics (especially in developed countries)

-male genital mutilation and deaths associated with it

-the disproportionate number of men who are killed by police, or who are imprisoned, and the effects this has on health disparities

-veterans' mental and physical health (which is largely a male issue)

-men's cancers and their relative lack of attention as opposed to women's cancers (most notoriously, the prostate cancer and breast cancer disparity)

-men more likely to die of all the top ten causes of death in developed countries

-gay men's health (especially as it pertains to the AIDS crisis)

-the life expectancy gap

-genetic defects disproportionately affecting men and boys (hypochondria, Y-linked diseases, autism, etc...)

-the fact that, especially in developed countries but increasingly so in developing countries, men of all age cohorts tend to have higher mortality rates than their female counterparts

-workplace fatalities (overwhelmingly a male issue)

-workplace injuries and health (again, mostly a men's issue, i.e. black lung disease)

-the impact of "women and children first" policies in health emergency situations ("gynocentrism")

-those countries, particularly ex-Soviet ones, which have some of the highest male-to-female imbalances (in favor of women) in the world, due to war, economic depression, suicide, and alcoholism affecting mostly men

-alcoholism, drug abuse, and homelessness

-the institutional bias in favor of women's (and children's) health in many countries (i.e., a Minister for Women and Women's Health but no equivalent for Men or Men's Health, or the weight and priority generally given to women's health disparities by governments and NGOs based on the idea that in "patriarchal societies" women and girls lack, at the social or cultural level, the health opportunities that men do)

-also note that, at least in developed countries, women make up the majority of the nursing profession, and are already a majority of the biology, medicine, sociology, anthropology, and biomedical sciences students

-the article should also be placed under a "Men's Issues" or "Men's Rights" banner (not sure of the exact name), so as to balance the undue weight of the "Feminism" banner

An effort should also be made to avoid citing so many explicitly feminist sources, as these inevitably lead to a disproportionate focus on women's health disparities and a lack of attention to or even a contemptuous justification of men's health disparities. I would also like to add that, giving a cursory look at the relevant available online "reliable" sources, many of these seem to have an explicit or implicit feminist bias, and so I am not sure how easy it would be to find data on men's health disparities specifically, although raw statistics are definitely out there.

I have neither the time, nor skills, nor resources, to edit this article and provide a more balanced view of the topic. That is why I decided to add the NPOV tag, to encourage further editing of the article so as to better and more equitably represent gender disparities in health. 2601:281:C200:D17F:4988:4125:36CE:3405 (talk) 23:34, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

It’s interesting to note that this was written 3 years ago and exactly nothing has changed or improved in the article in all that time, except that the neutrality-disputed template was removed Time2track (talk) 00:28, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Off-topic chat

I totally agree with the above and would work in with them to bring some sort of equality in the Wikipedia scene as it applies to Men, for too long we have been walked over by the Wikipedia feminists, with having articles deleted willy-nilly and being beaten down whenever we try and make a stand. This stops right here. ZL3XD (talk) 05:03, 12 September 2020 (UTC) This article talk page is for discussing improvements to the associated article, not for correcting some perceived injustice throughout the project. If there is material missing from this page, find reliable sources for the material you feel is missing and add it to the article, citing the sources you have found. If there is material in the article that does not reflect the content of the sources cited, fix it or discuss it here. If you feel there is a systemic problem "equality in the Wikipedia scene as it applies to Men", a statement on a random article's talk page in response to a once-and-done anonymous editor's comment 3 years ago, no matter how firmly worded or strongly felt, is a waste of time. If you have specific changes to Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, bring them up on the talk pages for those policies and guidelines. If you need help figuring out exactly what the root of the perceived problem is, I'd suggest starting a discussion at the villiage pump. - SummerPhDv2.0 17:11, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

Healthcare

For instance, healthcare systems tend to regard women as objects rather than subjects, where services are often provided to women as a means of something else rather on the well-being of women.

• This article is about gender disparities. Where is the citation that women are treated as objects in a healthcare setting moreso than men? This statement is an opinion and should be deleted.

• citation added Benongyx (talk) 00:15, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

In the case of reproductive health services, these services are often provided as a form of fertility control rather than as care for women's well-being.

• Again, no evidence is provided that this is a disparity. Just as far as the argument can be made with females and birthcontrol, it can also be made with men and vasectomies. This also implies that the only reproductive health service provided to women is birth control.

Interest in writing article on Gynecologic Cancer Disparities

Hello! My name is Michelle, and I'm a student at Rice University in the PJHC Program. I am interested in writing an article on Gynecologic Cancer Disparities / Women's Cancer Disparities / Female Cancer Disparities ( I haven't decided on a name yet). I read through your article and really loved your breakdown of sections. If I did create an article, I would love to use this article as a parent page. I was wondering if you could provide any suggestions for ways to structure this broad of an "disparities"-focused article that I am proposing. I am hoping to make the page as globally focused as possible, but there are so many ways to structure the article.. in terms of cancer type (ovarian, cervical, vaginal, etc.), country/region, etc. Additionally there are many dimensions to gynecologic oncology disparities including regional/geographical disparities, socioeconomic level based disparities, racial disparities, and more. I was wondering if anyone reading this talk page had any suggestions. Thanks for reading! Mtran99 (talk)

Peer Review

Jennyxwen

This article is incredibly thorough! I am impressed by the breadth of topics discussed, the various angles of society, culture, and public health. The amount of detail in statistics and various sources cited are impressive and really help with the credibility and depth of the article. I have some suggestions:

• The source of your definition of health is interesting. Is there a particular reason the World Development Report was chosen? Intuitively I would have picked the World Health Organization. However, there is nothing wrong with this choice, I would suggest maybe multiple definitions from multiple sources.
• In the female bias section, I would mention some specific ways of discrimination. I understand you go into depth later on, but I think the section would read more clearly if you included specifics such as infanticide. Also, in addition to South Asia and China, Subsaharan Africa is another region where gender health disparity is a staggering phenomenon
• I would include more graphics in addition to the maps. Perhaps of women engaging in carework, gathering firewood, or being exposed to dangerous conditions
• Cite the first sentence in the section for unequal access to healthcare. Discuss overarching causes rather than jumping into case studies.
• In terms of organization, I would rename the section “Causes” to “Causes of gendered health disparities”. I would also lift out “Other Axes of oppression” into its own section rather than subsection

Overall, this article is incredibly thorough, largely uses a neutral point of view, and is very informative. Great job!

Jennyxwen (talk) 04:50, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Laurenpedia

This is a very thorough, resource-rich article that touches on a variety of concepts discussed in class, and also links to a great number of other Wikipedia articles. I enjoyed reading this. I think you represent the connectedness of each of these issues well, and I especially think that the map of the human sex ratio by country is very helpful!

You may want to consider addressing policies that reduce gender disparities or examine policy recommendations, as this will provide a more comprehensive view of the grand scheme of gender disparities.

The caption underneath the picture of “Mass community health education” is quite wordy, and should be cut down. Additionally, the image in “Uninsured children” is small and hard to see, even while clicked on.

Overall, make sure you maintain the tone of Wikipedia, such as in the sentence: “Health disparity is the differences in health care…” that should read as “Health disparity has been defined as the difference in health care…” Check for this type of writing in other parts of the article to keep the encyclopedia tone.

There are a few specific suggestions that I think can help the clarify and ease of reading your article, to really make it top notch. These are as follows:

• The phrase “no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential” is somewhat misguiding with the word “disadvantaged.” Perhaps you should use a word such as “prevented.”

• The sentence fragment “there are some situations that result in men to faring in certain health outcomes” seems to be missing a few key words – what exactly did you mean?

• In “with a majority of the missing women coming from the missing India and China,” it seems like the second “missing” is unnecessary.

• Add comma in the number in “While only 1900 maternal deaths were recorded…”

• Make sure to properly format the links in “[[Gonorrhea]” and “[[sexually transmitted infections].”

• Do not capitalize malaria in “In the case of Malaria”.

• Change “would” to “are at” in “malaria transmission would still be at a risk level…”

• Add reference to sentence: “In India, for instance, the 2001 census recorded only 93 girls per 100 boys – a sharp decline from 1961 when the number of girls was nearly 98” and review “Son preference” section for references.

• Remove repetition in “Some of these Some of these gender inequalities include unequal restrictions.”

• Check subject-verb agreement in sentences such as “both of which can indirectly contributes to better health” – it should read “indirectly contribute.”

This was a great article - you clearly put a lot of time and effort into it, and I think these few suggestions would really help!Laurenpedia (talk) 03:33, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Response to Peer Reviews

Jennyxwen

Hi Jennyxwen! Thanks so much for the feedback and comments. They were really helpful. I think you made a great point with regards to the definition of health, why didn't I think of that. I have added a definition of health from merriam webster and also a definition from WHO like you recommended into the lead section. Good call! Thanks again! In the female bias section, although my main intent was to provide an explanation of how the gender bias is predominantly female, I did include some specific implications of discrimination, such as poorer health outcomes. Nevertheless, I have added into female bias section more specifics of how women are being discriminated against. I also added "Subsaharan Africa" into the female bias section.

With regards to graphics, I have tried to include more images but copyright issues are preventing me from adding more. I'm a little reluctant to add images of women (often from the global south, in poverty, or of minority ethnicities) gathering wood and other similar activities because it gives a very colonial gaze to the article.

On the sentence you are talking about citing in the section for unequal access to healthcare, I can't seem to locate. :( And with regards to discussing overarching causes rather than jumping into case studies, which section are you referring to?

In terms of organization, I am thinking of keeping the section as "causes" since the title of the entry is "Gender disaparities in Health," "causes" would only refer to the entry title. For the "other axes of oppression," I am more inclined to keep it under "causes" because other axes of oppression such as socioeconomic status do worsen health disparities for certain groups of women. But if you really feel that I should lift it, I'm open to discussing it further!

Cheers! Benongyx (talk) 23:04, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Laurenpedia

Hi Laurenpedia, thanks so much for the feedback and comments. They were really helpful. Yep! I do intend to include a section on policies that have been implemented or recommended to reduce gender disparities. I am still looking for material to make that section. My plan is to have that up before the final contributions. Thanks for raising this, I definitely agree with you that this will provide a more comprehensive view of the grand scheme of gender disparities.

On the images, I think it is a little long too, but other pages that are using this picture have even longer captions. With regards to the "uninsured children," that is how the picture was uploaded by the user into the wikicommons. I've been trying to figure out how I can change it, but so far, to no avail.

Thanks for pointing out the wikipedia tone. I'll proofread through my wikipedia page again to check on the sentences. On the sentence that you gave me as an example, I have adjusted the tone to a encyclopedia tone.

I have also made changes to all the specific suggestions that you provided in your feedback. Thanks so much for really looking through my article in detail and pointing them out. :)

Do let me know if you have more suggestions and feedback!

Benongyx (talk) 02:04, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Sentences removed as being too close to the source text

I just removed a few sentences that are too close to the source text to be acceptable -- these will have to be rephrased substantially to be included. The requirement is that the source has to be paraphrased in what is essentially a new statement of the facts. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:19, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

• hi. I actually put up some of the material first but i had yet to adjust the sentences. I will actually be reviewing the entire article soon to make sure that everything is paraphrased properly. Hope you can help and guide me along. Benongyx (talk) 00:42, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

  Sure -- I can only help where I can see the original sources too, of course, but I'll be glad to review what I can. Regarding the sentences I took out, you should really rephrase before you add -- I know that it's convenient to have the original text in front of you, but you shouldn't ever save a version that isn't already rephrased. Everybody does this in different ways, and you may find another way that works for you, but one thing I do when I'm having trouble rephrasing is imagine I'm explaining the information to somebody else, who didn't understand the sentence the way it was in the source. Try imagining yourself saying "What they're really saying is ..." and then see what you find yourself saying to explain it. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:26, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

• hey mike, everything has been adjusted and made appropriate. do let me know if you have any addition feedback or recommendation that you feel can be done to further improve the article. Thanks! Benongyx (talk) 21:57, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Incorrect Statement

"making them more prone to illnesses and death" This needs to be edited. Women are not more prone to illnesses and death. I skimmed the source and there is nothing implying that statement. Could you provide the page you are citing? Women have higher life expectancy and lower rates of disease almost everywhere, as described here. In addition, this isn't mentioning that "more prone to death" doesn't make sense; everyone is 100% prone to death. If you included a reference of age, i.e. more prone to younger death, it would make sense. However... It's nonsensical that women would have high rates of death and illness while having higher life expectancy in almost every country. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.57.100.150 (talk) 00:33, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

• hi! thanks so much for your feedback, i really appreciate it. (thou it would be nice if your tone was a little less condescending) I will definitely go back and revise it. cheers.Benongyx (talk) 17:13, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Feminist Bias

Why is an article that is supposed to address disparities that affect both sexes/genders categorized under Feminism?

• Why does it not mention the disparities for males regarding emotional/mental health and suicide?
• What about work related injury? The type of physically intensive and dangerous work men do, and how their health is considered. This must also have an effect on mortality rates.
• This article mentions female genital mutilation, yet it doesn't mention ritual male circumcision. Ritual male circumcision causes comparable illness and death.

"While both males and females face health disparities, girls and women experience a majority of health disparities. This comes from the fact that many patriarchal cultural ideologies and practices have structured society in a way whereby women are more vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment, making them more prone to illnesses and early death." Although I don't necessarily disagree with this when factoring in the entire world, can the same be said regarding developed nations?

This article seems to focus on how women face more inequality in total, and less about the actual issues that effect both men and women depending on region/culture.

Predominately female-bias

What is the link between women being unable to achieve higher level education or paid labor and health outcomes? Answer the how.Tkk20 (talk) 19:24, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

Interest in Contributing to Article

Hello, I am planning on adding to this article as an assignment for a "Women, Development and Globalization" course. I'm hoping to restructure the "Poverty" section, and add information to help address some of the bias in the article. I'm also hoping to add information about maternal mortality to the "Female Mortality" section. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you! Kenara44 (talk) 04:38, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Reads a little like OR...but doesn't need to

I feel like the article builds a case for "Gender disparities in health" the way a primary source would, but "plenty of RS use the term". I really think the article needs to build more from such sources from the beginning. It's also clear that the article is talking about sex categories and using "gender" in its meaning that is synonymous with "sex". There are few hits for "Sex disparities in health", but the article should cite a source that clarifies this. Maneesh (talk) 22:39, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Gender disparities in health

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Gender disparities in health's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "UNICEF2016":

• From Female genital mutilation: UNICEF 2016.
• From Gender equality: "Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Global Concern" (PDF). New York: United Nations Children's Fund. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2020-12-26.

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 11:50, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment

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