Sociology of Health: Marxist Theory and Gender Inequalities

This article discusses the Marxist theory on gender inequalities in health and its criticism. It also includes personal reflection on the topic.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH
Sociology of Health
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH
Marxist Theory
The Marxist Theory was developed by Karl Marx that mainly focuses on the macro-
elements of the social structure. According to this theory, a society in inclined over
structuralism regarding how individual practices are influenced by the overall structure of the
society (Larkin, 2011). The Marxist theory on gender equalities in health was mainly based
on the Victorian ideology. In this Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Marx had stated
that the position of women in the society must be used to ascertain the development of
society as a whole and this also includes the health status of the society. Marxist feminism
mainly focused over dismantling the capitalism concept of the society as a path towards
women liberation. According to Marxist theory, economic inequality, political confusion,
high rate of dependence and unhealthy social relations are the root behind gender differences
in health. The men of the society belong to the class of bourgeoisie and are under the
oppression of dominant power structure, creating gender inequality (Kuhn & Wolpe, 2012).
Marxist theory criticism
The approach taken by Marx in the domain of family and women was little divergent
in comparison to conventional economics. In Marxian model, women are represented as a
part of household who are responsible for bearing and raising children and family. According
to the Feminism-Marxist theory, women play a vital role in generating capital via giving birth
to the new workforce as a mother thus producing goods in economy (Larkin, 2011). The
critique are of the opinion that in this role, women are exploited as free labour and are
frequently undervalued in both public and private domain. Critiques are also of the opinion
that Marxist feminism mainly focuses on the capitalist features of the society and while
distracting the light from the patriarchy that generates and supports inequalities (Larkin,
2011).

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Personal Reflection
I think, gender inequality in the sector of health is one of the pivotal sociological
domains that deserve immediate concern. The promotions of gender equality via Marxist
theory have promoted women employment but have increase the incidence of infertility,
single parent, divorce and neonatal death. The reason behind this is much of the women
employment has been in the domain of non-standard jobs. Equal employment opportunity
will help in the generation health social relationship via eliminating economic inequality and
thereby promoting health.

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SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH
References
Kuhn, A., & Wolpe, A. (Eds.). (2012). Feminism and materialism: Women and modes of
production (Vol. 7). Routledge.
Larkin, M. (2011). Social aspects of health, illness and healthcare. McGraw-Hill Education
(UK).