Women's Health

Recent research has indicated that women, compared to men, are more likely to seek out preventative healthcare; to subscribe to annual physicals; and to ask more questions regarding their diagnoses, prognoses, and treatment. While no definitive explanation for this [Page 501]behavior has yet been offered, some theorize that women's role as caregivers of others may compel them to take their own health more seriously. Another factor could be the fact that women have traditionally been penalized by the healthcare system simply for being female; perhaps this marginalized status has compelled women to be more proactive and assertive in their relationships with the healthcare system. Much has been written about the way that women's lives are viewed through a “masculine lens” of experience and assumptions. The ...