Anthropology

A course designed to evaluate the gender dimension of health and disease, and addresses the articulation of gender roles and ideology with health status, the organization of health care, and health policy in a cross-cultural perspective. Gender is a cultural construct, and cultural ideas about women’s health and women’s bodies differ between social groups and historical periods. Gender issues pertain to men as well, and male gender roles and expectations are also culturally constructed. There are biomedical consequences to the cultural constructions of gender differences. The course examines how expressions of gender and power can play a role in prevention and treatment strategies.