Careful With Clichés Related to Gender and Health!

In terms of health, men and women are not in the same boat. This is due not just to their biology but also to social, cultural and economic reasons which are not always taken into account. Gender stereotypes influence medical practices, research, teaching and patient behaviors, leading to situations of inequality and discrimination between the sexes in the management of and access to healthcare. The Inserm Ethics Committee and its "Gender and Health Research" Working Group have decided to try to raise the awareness of a wide audience on health inequalities through a series of short films, called "Genre et Santé : attention aux clichés !" [Gender and Health: beware of clichés! (in French)], co-produced by Inserm, CNRS, and Université Paris-Diderot. CNRS and Université Paris-Diderot are the only higher education establishments in France to have set up structures dedicated to gender equality. The 6 one-minute films warn of the stereotypes in six domains of medicine and research: depression, life expectancy, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, pain, and brain imaging. They aim to raise the awareness of healthcare professionals and patients to promote greater equality in medicine for the benefit of both sexes.