Author: Derek Walde

Throughout the entire course of History 4250, the idea of gender and health norms as a social construction are a re-occurring theme.   Throughout Canadian history, the way society or the individual experiences and understands health and gender norms is very dependent on the social context of the time period.  Health is a lived out responsibility of an individual, which is based on the ideas of Crawford and healthism. Through healthism, health becomes performance oriented, where one must embody and live up to health ideals, which makes health susceptible and controlled by the social atmosphere.  The fluidity of health comes from the idea of healthism, where “healthiness” can be described by one’s well-being not just an absence of sickness.  Well-being is not measurable unlike absence of sickness, so the ideas of health can be constantly changing.[i]  These health standards due to healthism and embodied citizenship of health, force people to live out societal expectations to reach a state of well-being, which then is deemed as “healthy”.  This is equally applicable to gender expectations, as one performs to meet gender ideals prescribed by the environment one is in.  Health and gender expectations are both socially constructed, as they are both based on societal expectations, which need to be performed.

Gender roles and expectations as a social construction is a major theme in Stafford’s article, where she observed a kindergarten class.  Finding that current anxieties of the plight of boys in public schools comes from rigidly set standards of gendered behavior.  The findings show that gender norms are created and performed as a re-action to the societal norms in place.[ii]  In one situation in Tracy Penny Light’s article, From Fixing to Enhancing Bodies, the performance aspect of gender norms and health intersect to show the social construction of both ideals. A boy suffering from gynecomastia, felt from both health and gender norms based on societal ideals of masculinity and healthiness in males, that the over-development of his breasts were infringing his ability to be a good male citizen.  The social construction of proper male health and to perform proper gender norms was hindered due to a condition, which was not a sickness.[iii]

Health works in a very similar way to gender, as health is not always about what actually makes one physical and medically healthier, rather what is considered “healthy” comes from prescribed ideals of popular culture. For example in Tracy Penny Light’s article, a woman had been diagnosed with breast cancer, a measurable, physical medical sign of unhealthiness, however she opted not to get the lump removed.  Stating this “God placed me on this Earth with two breasts and He will take me away with them.”[iv]  Even though her health was compromised, the prescribed ideals of having two breasts overrode getting medical help from a professional. The social construction of health is clearly seen in this situation as health was more intertwined with cosmetics than the absence of sickness, showing that health is more than merely a medical state but a social prescription.

Hutterites offer an interesting case to study, when looking at health as a social construction. If health was not a social construction, then all people would have the same ideas of health no matter their circumstances, however, this is not the case for Hutterites.  Hutterites health norms differ from the popular culture ideas of mainstream Canadians. Due to Hutterite’s seclusion from society and their differing lifestyles, their construction of health ideals are based on their culture and popular beliefs, which creates different health norms. The social climate breeds different ideas of health, making the definition of health fluid and constantly changing, as it is reliant on society’s perceptions.[v]

[i] Crawford, Robert., “Healthism and the Medicalization of Everyday Life,” International Journal of Health Services, 10,3 (1980): 365-388.

[ii] Stafford, Anika, “‘I Feel Like a Girl Inside’: Possibilities for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Early Primary School,” BC Studies, 181 (Spring 2016): 9-29.

[iii] Penny Light, Tracy, “From Fixing to Enhancing Bodies: Shifting Ideals of Health and Gender in the Medical Discourse on Cosmetic Surgery in Twentieth Century Canada,” in Penny Light, et.al, Bodily Subjects: Essays on Gender and Health, 1800-2000, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015: 331.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Kraybill, Donald B., and Carl F. Bowman. On the backroad to heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

Heading into the sixth reading log, History 4250 has entered a new theme, Authority and Ideals.  Authority and Ideals for this week’s reading revolve around medical professionals and their ability to use their elevated status and expertise to inform the public on healthy decisions, procedures and programs, influencing popular culture’s norms of health.   However, the reception of these expectations are not always unanimous, as debates and a challenging of the medical professionals and the poplar culture norms is common throughout Canada’s history.  In each of the articles there is a dichotomy created between whether or not to accept medical practices.  Hence, doctors have great power over citizens and prescribe ideals, however these are not always received by the public wholesomely.

Doctor’s elevated position in society is apparent, as their developments in research often push citizens towards the new practices or ideals of health. Doctor’s fascination in adolescence, as a life stage, eventually forced society into accepting this new stage of life.  The research and the encouraged implementation of the school medical programs for this age group, produced the acceptance in popular culture of the adolescence age group.[i]  Another example of doctors clear authority and ability to prescribe ideals is that doctors were used an assimilative tool.  In order for a doctor to have the ability to be assimilative there had to be a certain level of respect and authority in order for the people to accept new ways of medicine. In the case of doctors in Aboriginal communities, they often were used as a tool of assimilating the Aboriginals into European medical norms, thus superseding Aboriginal’s old ways of living.  Doctor’s impact on society was clearly felt amongst society, as there opinions were held in high regard and influenced wider ideals.[ii]

The debate on adding fluoride into the water in many municipalities helps illuminate the clear dichotomy between acceptance and rejection of medical ideals.  Having both the Canadian Dental Association and Canadian Medical Association’s backing, there was still a considerable split amongst residents to add fluoride to the water.  Advocates from the pro-fluoride side always respected and were mindful of the recommendations made by the doctors.  On the other side people were less accepting of the doctors recommendations, which degraded the status of doctors in society.  The split between these two sides show the struggle between accepting doctors higher status in regards to health or using personal knowledge and doctor’s knowledge together. Doctors as being absolute, was always questioned, people often took doctors advice but used their own interpretation and experiences in conjunction with doctor’s recommendations, in order to create or accept health standards.[iii]

In the case of Hutterites, prescribed ideals of health are not always followed by the colonies.  The way in which Hutterites viewed death was very different then the popular culture ideas. In Hutterite colonies surrounding death, an increased social cohesion and group identity sparked to help a person deal with death, unlike mainstream culture where social cohesion was not stressed. Therefore, Hutterite’s cultural normalities create a much different notion of death, compared to other Canadians.  The prescribed ideals of mainstream culture are not uniformly accepted by Hutterites, rather their ideas of death revolve around Hutterite’s culture and experience. Much like the dichotomy of accepting medical practices amongst Canadians, the Hutterites are similar interpreting notions of health by their own ideals and cultural normality’s.[iv]

[i] Comacchio, Cynthia, “‘The Rising Generation’: Laying Claim to the Health of Adolescents in English Canada, 1920-70,” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 19 (2002): 139-178.

[ii] Kelm, Mary Ellen, “Doctors, Hospitals, and Field Matrons.” In Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal Health and Healing in British Columbia, 1900-1950, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998:

[iii] Carstairs, Catherine, “Expertise, Health, and Popular Opinion: Debating Water Fluoridation, 1945- 1980,” Canadian Historical Review, 89 (2008): 345-371.

[iv] Cacciatore, Joanne and Kara Thieleman. “We Rise Out of the Cradle and Into the Grave: An Ethnographic Exploration of Ritual, Mourning and Death on a Hutterite Colony.” Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 69, no.4 (June 2014): 357-379.