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The Impact of Inequality on Women’s Health
Women’s health is a topic that continues to attract much attention around the United States of America. Over the years, women have experienced segregation when attempting to access health facilities. A number of reasons have led to women’s underrepresentation in hospitals or other health centers. To this effect, some factors like social inequalities, economic disparity, sexual or intimacy-related violent activities, and gender discrimination have come to play in explaining the deteriorating level of health among the female populace.
The aspect of social inequality influences the construction of the meaning of men and women. This way women are considered less important than the male population. It is unfortunate that the health sector also adopts the same meaning overlooking the needs of the female gender (Wimer, 8). Furthermore, it is evident that health practitioners do not take an interest in understanding the biological cause of the women’s ailments. However, doctors suggest that the effects of stereotyping are the key source of their illness. Sexism impedes the access to beneficial health care among women living in the U.S.
In addition, economic disparities have adverse effects on the health conditions of women living in the U.S. In their article ‘One in Five Californians Live in Poverty,’ Pickoff-White and Aguilar argued that many families living in California were poor. The California report demonstrated that families living below the poverty range accounted for approximately 20 percent of the populace (Lisa and Erika, 1).

From their findings, it is noteworthy to mention that women from these particular families did not have access to health services. It is clear that they could not afford to pay for medical check-ups and other services.
Moreover, violence arising from sexual or intimate activities against women put their health at risk. Violent acts that emanate from forced sex, assaults and defiling cases cause a sense of women’s inferiority. It is evident that women who are raped have increased exposure to a range of diseases. The sexually transmitted diseases include STDs or HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, sexual violence leads to unwanted or unplanned pregnancies (CDC, 54). Women who are more vulnerable to sexual advances result in aborting that puts their lives at more risk. The processes of both birth and abortion endanger the lives of many females.
At this point, it is critical to mention that violence directly impacts the normal body functionality among women. Crucially, men who have relationships based on intimacy with women may turn to be violent. It is unfortunate that cruel partners end up physically harming their wives who accounted for 30.7 percent (CDC, 27). Violating women’s rights and freedom puts them in a lower position than the men. Continued fights within homes may translate to homicide cases that involve a husband killing his woman. Other health problems that arise from violence include bodily bruises, wounds, and broken bones. Therefore, violent acts materialize to deteriorated health.
Importantly, inequality is associated with heightened psychological consequences depicted by a significant percentage of the female populace (Elwer, 23). Women succumbing to discrimination are likely to develop suicidal thoughts. Data provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrated that women that have experienced extensive inequality develop distress, depression, and anxiety (CDC, 16). Unfortunately, they do not get over the past traumatizing experiences. Unlike men, women suffer from mental disorders after undergoing discrimination.
Women’s ability to access appropriate and quality health care services in the United States of America is a crucial step towards attaining a healthy female population. Notably, these women become less prone to chronic diseases that affect either their bodies or psychological states. There is an urgent need to mitigate the prevailing consequences and expenses linked with failure to address pitfalls in the U.S health industry. Similar to men, the women also need the necessary attention and adequate health care services to improve their lives. Health disparities impede the vision of having a healthy society in the United States.
Works cited
CDC. Health Disparities and Inequalities Report. MMWR 2011: 1-116. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/other/su6001.pdf
Elwér, Sofia, et al. “Patterns of gender equality at workplaces and psychological distress.” PloS
one 8.1 (2013): e53246.
Lisa, Pickoff-White and Erika, Aguilar. One in Five Californians Live in Poverty, 13 Sept. 2017.
Retrieved from https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/09/13/1-in-5-californians-live-in-poverty/
Wimer, Christopher, et al. “A portrait of poverty within California counties and demographic
groups.” (2013). Retrieved from https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/california_poverty_measure.pdf