SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
CHAPTER 11
Gender, Age, and Health
Section 1: Gender
Section 2: Age and Disability
Section 3: Health
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Gender
Objectives:
 Analyze how gender roles affect the
opportunities available to men and women in
society.
 Explain how gender roles are affected by
socialization.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Gender
Gender Roles and Opportunities
 Education – still gender distinctions in degree
majors, fewer women pursuing doctoral or
professional degrees, and less funding for
women’s college athletics
 Employment – still a wage gap and a glass
ceiling for women
 Politics – underrepresented in politics
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 1: Gender
Gender Roles and Socialization
 In virtually all societies, gender socialization
begins at birth and continues throughout life
 Children learn American gender-role behaviors
through socialization such as in the family or
at school
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Age and Disability
Objectives:
 Discuss the effect that the aging of the
population is having on society.
 Explain how the aging of the population is
affecting the life chances of older Americans.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Age and Disability
The Aging World
 Economic Effects – rising cost of health care,
cost of Social Security; burden to family and
younger workers; living longer in retirement
 Political Effects – becoming a stronger
political force; organized voting bloc, focusing
on health care, retirement, and Social Security
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 2: Age and Disability
Aging and Life Changes
of Older Americans
 Some people claim that government transfer payments
like Social Security have made older Americans
financially secure at the expense of younger generations
 Older Americans have to deal with poverty, disabilities,
prejudice, and discrimination
 Older Americans have become a political force and a
topic of debate thus bringing greater attention to Social
Security and Medicare
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Health
Objectives:
 Describe the state of health care in the United
States.
 Identify some of the special health-care
concerns of various segments of American
society.
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Health
Health Care in the U.S.
 Focuses on Two Main Issues:
 Cost of Health Care – concern over the rapid rise in
health care costs
 Quality of Health Care – some believe that managed
care has decreased the quality of health care
 Access to Health Care – distribution of physicians,
both geographically and within the medical
profession, has limited accessibility to health care
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
SOCIOLOGY THE STUDY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Section 3: Health
Health Care Concerns Today
 Health Insurance – unequal health care exists
between public and private insurance programs
 Alternative Medicine – is a concern because there are
few scientific studies on the effectiveness of
alternative treatments
 AIDS – has developed into one of the most serious
public-health problems in the U.S. and around the
world in just two decades
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HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON