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“Some of my colleagues at the Department of Sociology in Helsinki wonder whether it is meaningful to study mortality differences. After all, the death rate is the same for everyone: one death per person” (Valkonem 1993)[1]
Henry Allingham (6 June 1896 – 18 July 2009), First World War veteran and, for one month, the verified oldest living man in the world, was an anomaly. Supercentenarians themselves are rare, of course, but male ones are particularly so[2]. However, it is not merely amongst the old and frail where women outlive their male counterparts - in fact, it has been noted as a near universal truth, spanning all ages, locations and recent times that when it comes to life expectancy, women have the upper hand. The reasons for the trend have been extensively explored by physicians, epidemiologists, biologists, demographers, actuaries and laymen - but the opinions of these experts greatly differ. As Nathanson (1984) stated:
“It is the uniquely protean quality of sex as a conceptual category that allows the scholar to see in it that for which his training tells him to look: the ...
”The History of Sexuality” is a three-volumes book, published around 1976 and 1984 by the french historical philosopher Michel Foucault. The three volumes are “An Introduction” (which later is known also as “The Will of Knowledge”), “The Use of the Self” and “The Care of the Self”.
Jordanova, Ludmilla. Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the 18th and 20th Centuries. London: Harrester Wheatsheaf, 1989.
Irigaray, Luce. “That Sex Which is Not One.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998. 1467-1471.
References to Kurt Freund’s studies to “assess sexual arousal in men and women” and Alfred Kinsey’s “sexual orientation” scale are made to further explain how sexuality and asexuality are not solid concepts with strict definitions of their own but rather more multifarious. For
Since the dawn of man, sex has played a crucial role in society. Before they learned to read or write humans were engaging in sex and without it none of us would be here. In today’s society, sex has grown to become much more complicated. If I were to ask a group of people on the street what they believed sex was? I bet they would have a hard time answering. The question puzzling society today is how do we define sex? Can we define sex? These are questions raised in Tracy Steele’s article “Doing it: The Social Construction of S-E-X”. This article is about the current questions and issues that have been raised about sex within today’s society. In this paper I will summarize the key points of the article, while sharing my own thoughts and opinions of Steele’s findings.
Volpe, Edmond L. "James's Theory of Sex." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Portrait of a Lady: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Peter Buitenhuis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
In Sigmund Freud’s “Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness”, contained in Sexuality and the Psychology of Love, the writer presents separate roles for men and women as it relates to sexuality, even referring to a “double code of morality” (22) for the genders. In his paper the former often takes the role of the subject while the former becomes the object. In fact, women are described as the “true sexual guardians of the race” glorified, it seems, instead of truly studied. However, in one particular section of the essay, Freud turns his focus onto the female sexuality. In specific he references the various factors that, in his eyes, can influence the female sexual formation. The primary influences being that of the society, primarily the institution of marriage, and that of the family, which would include both a woman’s parents and children. After discussing these elements, Freud then
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
In today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex and sexual desires revolve around men, and Hoagland sets out seven patterns showing how this is the case. Sex is thought of as a “powerful and uncontrollable urge” and male sexuality therefore is a basic component to male health, sexual acts show male conquest and domination, sexual freedom gives men total access to and over women, rape is, by this logic, natural and women who resist a man’s advances are “‘frigid’”, sex involves losing control and sexual desire, when described as erotic, “involves a death wish (eros)”. The bottom line is that in today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex is all about men having a natural power over women; sex involves a total loss of control which creates a split between reason and emotion since being in control is a matter of reason controlling emotions, “we tend to believe that to be safe we must be rational and in control but to...
Fedler hypothesizes that the longevity gap is smaller for married couples than for single people; that marriage only improves the male’s longevity, and wealth also helps in increasing life expectancy. The hypotheses are tested using a data set of the Swiss deceased at the age 65+ in 2001 and 2002, with information on the individuals’ age at death and their average earnings over the life cycle. Fedler uses algorithms, charts, and other illustrations to show evidence derived from calculations. The study provided evidence to suggest that women do live longer than men and wealth is correlated with longevity. The study was sound, but it was done using only Swiss deceased, and its difficult to understand life circumstances based off only death age and income. Another thing I found is that the population was based off of people deceased whose age was 65 or older, I think that to properly measure longevity the study should include participants starting at 45. Also limit the description to death from natural
This essay will be, centrally, focusing on critically examining the differences in health and life expectancy between men and women. In order to do so, theories and arguments will be drawn upon to illustrate it. Furthermore, there will be an overview of the statistical data that presents these findings and demonstrate the differences in health and life expectancy between men and women. In order to enhance the arguments that has been put forward, the research will not only be based in UK but other countries will be taken into account. Additionally, a cross-cultural analysis will be used to look at differences across societies and how effective this is in showing the health and life expectancy between men and women. In the beginning of the essay a clear concept of sex and gender will be provided to illustrate the difference between the two on top of paying a close attention to how they are used within our society, as well as the parts it plays in showing the health and life expectancy between men and women.
Here, the distinction is made between the physiological aspect of sex and the meanings inscribed in it. In this discussion, Merleau-Ponty is referenced in explaining that the body continually realizes a set of possibilities. In framing the body in such a manner, one does not merely have or one is not merely a body – one “does” one’s body. However, there is a constraint to these possibilities made by historical conventions. What this means is that when Merleau-Ponty and Beauvoir claim that the body is a historical situation, the body does three things with that historical situation: it does it, dramatizes it, and reproduces it. These can be seen as the elementary structures of embodiment. This embodiment can then be viewed specifically from the perspective of the act of gender. Gender can then be understood differently from the biological sex as gender has a cultural interpretation that is used as a strategy for cultural survival. In its deep entrenchment, gender seems almost natural in the punishments that arise from deviating from acting in a way that creates the very idea of
It has been well documented that women in general have a longer lifespan than men. In the past the reason was believed to be that women live a healthier lifestyle than men; I believe this is true to a point. Women don’t tend to work in as hazardous of environments and historically they tend not to smoke as much. Based on some research I have seen, a man or women’s lifestyle doesn’t sum up the total life expectancy of the individual. For the most part I believe the availability of modern medicine and the education level of the person will tie directly into the results. Basically if the person is moderately educated and has access to the modern medicine and actually uses it they can expect to extend their life. These are not the only factors of this though; genetics can obviously play a large role in the life expectancy of a person as well. People appear to be understanding this more and are moving to a preemptive strike when it comes to these types of issues. The fact that women have out lived men over the years may be taking a turn. Mortality rates of women are on the rise from lung...
DeLamater, J. & Hyde, J. (1998). Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality. Journal Of Sex Research, 35(1), 10-18.