The viewpoint society has about specific diseases based on societal or cultural normality in that time period is referred to as social construction. Social construction is developed at the societal and community level of the social ecological model of health because it is based on how people think about certain discourses. Social construction of disease refers to how society feels about a disease. For example, breast cancer has been socially constructed to the idea that women are strong and survivors if they beat the cancer. Social construction is influenced by who has the disease, how they contracted the disease, and the medical knowledge known about the disease at the time. In addition, the answers to the who, how, what, and why, all must
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During the colonial era, a couple was forced into marriage if a child was conceived and if they did not marry they were shunned by society. Therefore, the phrase social construction of disease, illness and of difference refers to how a disease or illness is viewed based on what is socially acceptable, and these viewpoints can be altered based on differences such as race, sex, gender, or socio- economic class. For example, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and venereal disease are both health outcomes affected by social construction. In addition to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and venereal disease, the value-laden categories of female egg and male sperm have also been socially …show more content…
In society, men are seen as strong while women are seen as weak and this is due to the social constructs imbedded in medicine. Specifically, in the ideas shaping the male’s sperm and women’s egg. In medical practice and science textbooks, the sperm is constantly referred to as strong, has whiplash behaviors, and full of energy while the egg according to Martin’s “Egg and sperm” is old and weak, and commonly referred to as a damsel in distress (Martin, 1991). Thus, creating this idea of social construction that women will always be inferior to the dominant male because the symbols associated with the male sex are powerful while the symbols associated with the female are diminishing. The construction of these categories has moved far beyond the basic interpretation of society but have been
During the colonial era, a couple was forced into marriage if a child was conceived and if they did not marry they were shunned by society. Therefore, the phrase social construction of disease, illness and of difference refers to how a disease or illness is viewed based on what is socially acceptable, and these viewpoints can be altered based on differences such as race, sex, gender, or socio- economic class. For example, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and venereal disease are both health outcomes affected by social construction. In addition to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and venereal disease, the value-laden categories of female egg and male sperm have also been socially …show more content…
In society, men are seen as strong while women are seen as weak and this is due to the social constructs imbedded in medicine. Specifically, in the ideas shaping the male’s sperm and women’s egg. In medical practice and science textbooks, the sperm is constantly referred to as strong, has whiplash behaviors, and full of energy while the egg according to Martin’s “Egg and sperm” is old and weak, and commonly referred to as a damsel in distress (Martin, 1991). Thus, creating this idea of social construction that women will always be inferior to the dominant male because the symbols associated with the male sex are powerful while the symbols associated with the female are diminishing. The construction of these categories has moved far beyond the basic interpretation of society but have been