Gendered differences are very apparent throughout the world today. And, although there have been significant improvements in addressing social and political cleavages between men and women, many issues still remain. These discrepancies can be attributed to norms and traditions that support gender roles and form divides in the ways that issues like personal health, parenthood, and employment are experienced and navigated. 

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One area in which a gender-based discrepancy can be seen is in personal health. In an episode of The Current, Caroline Criado Perez (2019) explains her shock when she discovered that even in health care, data specific to women’s bodies is limited. Her research shows that although men and women experience symptoms for serious conditions differently, generally it is only males’ symptoms that are taught to healthcare providers and the general public. This leaves women far more susceptible to misdiagnoses of serious conditions like heart attacks than their male counterparts. However, this one facet of inequality is representative of a bigger issue: too often the “default” is based on men, regardless of sector. 

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The issue of gender-based cleavages in healthcare does not only affect women. Murray (2015) addresses how because masculinity dominates politics, sensitive issues pertaining to men, including their healthcare, are often neglected or taboo (p. 12). For example, because of the patriarchy, men are encouraged to partake in higher-risk behaviours—such as the overconsumption of drugs and alcohol—to prove their strength and masculinity, which increases their risk of disease and/or injury. However, due to the lack of discourse surrounding the inconsistencies in healthcare, the first step in mending the divide is acknowledging its existence in the first place. 

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Mental health is also an area where we can see a divide between genders. For example, while women are encouraged to talk about their feelings and seek help for mental health issues, men are also socialized to internalize their emotions rather than seek help. The concerning result of this is that men’s suicide rates are three to ten times higher than women’s (Murray 2015, p. 9). These gendered expectations in regards to mental health are widespread meaning there is little attention directed towards addressing this issue on a governmental level or within healthcare itself. This demonstrates that it is not just the profession of medicine that is not inclusive of both sexes’ needs, but also that stereotypes and social pressures have direct effects on health as well.

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Another issue that affects men and women differently is the expectations and norms placed upon them in regard to parenthood. Parenthood, in this context, refers to the opportunity for both men and women to choose to have—or not to have—a child, as well as the opportunity to parent that child. Traditionally, especially in North America, women are expected to take a more domestic role, while men are accustomed to being the breadwinner; this rigidity disadvantages both genders. For example, women are disadvantaged by the expectation that the mother should take on all of the child-care responsibilities (Murray, 2015, p. 9). And, it is this expectation that results in women completing 75% of the world's unpaid care work while reducing their own careers to part-time (Perez and Chattopadhyay, 2019; Cochrane et al., 2021, p. 150). All of this contributes to the issue of the feminization of poverty, which demonstrates the financial strain of childcare on women (Cochrane et al., 2021, p. 153).

 

For men, the reverse is true; traditional gender norms discourage fathers from participating in parenting in the same capacity as mothers through small gestures, like the lack of paternity leave or baby change tables in men's washrooms. Additionally, the social pressure placed on men to be the primary breadwinner of the family unit also makes it difficult for men to choose domestic work, even if that is what they prefer. This pressure can be detrimental to men’s mental health and overall happiness (Murray, 2015, p. 9). The key issue here ends up being that the structural barriers men face in being as involved in parenting as women further reinforce the pressure on women to be the primary caregiver (Murray, 2015, p. 9). 

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Another area that demonstrates gender-based cleavages is employment, specifically the ability for men and women to be successful in the workplace. Most generally, this is demonstrated by income inequality, which persists despite legislation that calls for equality between men and women. Unfortunately, there is still a wage gap in Canada, meaning that women—and especially women of colour—are paid less on average than men. Today, Canadian women make approximately 85 cents to a man’s dollar (Cochrane et al., 2021, p. 149).

 

Furthermore, structural inequalities, stereotypes, and norms hinder women’s ability to advance their positions in the workplace. Employment-equity programs attempt to address this issue by using affirmative action policies that hold employers accountable for their hiring practices (Cochrane et al., 2021, p. 150). But despite these efforts, there are still far fewer women than men in higher corporate positions (Cochrane et al., 2021, p. 150). Many of these discrepancies can be attributed to the tendency for society as a whole and those in hiring positions to view women narrowly as mothers rather than professionals. This creates a hesitancy, subconscious or not, to hire women because employers believe female employees will leave to have children. 

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Additionally, employers' complacency in the habit of hiring men for powerful positions contributes to the lack of female representation in high roles within large companies, which allows the cyclical process to persist in disservice to women. Perez (2019) furthers this thought by explaining how, in many aspects of life, we accept men as the default. For example, it is common for North Americans to associate ‘professional’ jobs—like doctors, lawyers, politicians—with men. These norms have many consequences for both men and women, and by neglecting them, we are complacent in their continuation.

 

Additionally, men in minority groups—including racialized, disabled, and Queer men—also experience many issues in regard to employment expectations. Murray (2015) explains how the expectation of men to fulfill the primary breadwinner role is especially harmful to men who face barriers to employment from disabilities or chronic unemployment. This marginalizes men who are unable to fulfill this expectation by implying they are not a 'real man' because they cannot achieve the provider role. This results in social and psychological impacts that are much more severe in men than in women who struggle with unemployment (Murray 2015, 9).

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While gender-based cleavages are thought to primarily affect women, it is clear that this is not the case. Both men and women struggle to receive the medical help they need because of norms and social expectations. Gender roles confine people to boxes when it comes to parental expectations. And, in the workplace, men and women are limited to the expectations of their gender. Accepting these disparities as inevitable contributes to everyone’s marginalization. So, the only way to begin combatting them is through discourse that addresses the complex and intertwined nature of these issues that impact all genders.
 

References

Cochrane, Christopher, Kelly Blidook, and Rand Dyck. 2021. "Chapter 7: Gender." In Canadian Politics Critical Approaches, 141-62. 9th ed. Toronto: Nelson Education. 

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Criado Perez, Caroline, and Piya Chattopadhyay. 2019. "There's a Gender Gap in Medical Data, and It's Costing Women Their Lives, Says This Author." CBC (audio blog) https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-march-11-2019-1.5049277/mar-11-2019-episode-transcript-1.5052064. 

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Murray, Rainbow. 2015. "Too Much Presence? Men’s Interests and Male Intersectionality."