Is feminism bad for your health?

Warning: feminism is bad for your health

Extract:

"Since before Germaine Greer published The Female Eunuch in 1970, and even before Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, campaigners have fought for sexual equality, convinced it is the key to a better society. Now researchers have discovered that gender equality may make people unwell.

Researchers in Sweden, arguably one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, have found that equality could be associated with poorer health for both men and women.

In the study, published in Social Science and Medicine, the researchers compared data from all of Sweden's 290 municipalities. They used nine indicators of equality in both the private and public sectors, ranging from the proportion of men and women in management jobs to average income. These were related to local life expectancy, disability and absence from work through illness.

The results showed a strong link between gender equality and levels of sickness and disability for both men and women. One of the findings was that equal financial resources between the sexes was associated with higher levels of sickness and disability."

In my opinion, the greatest avoidable risk to women's health is the widespread sexist attitude of health professionals, mainly doctors. Far too many doctors - the majority, I believe - tend to stereotype women patients as people who exaggerate their pain, and when a woman presents with physical symptoms, these doctors tend to look for a psychogenic explanation rather than rigorously examining for the physical cause of the symptoms. - There is an excellent article about this (Lennane and Lennane, "Alleged Psychogenic Disorders in Women") which, although written in 1973, is still largely true today. - The article is included in various books, including "The Changing Experience of Women", Open University Press.