Every society places its members into a series of categories which determine how.
In our society the female gender is looked upon .
differently then the male gender. More value is placed on males then females. .
In most cultures, what is thought of as manly is more highly valued than what is thought .
of as womanly. The article I chose for my essay deals with a study that was conducted .
and showed that female teenagers are more prone to chronic health problems than males. .
This essay will discuss gender roles and how females are expected to behave a certain .
way which therefore makes them seem like the "weaker sex".
The article I chose was found in the Hamilton Spectator titled, Teen girls see .
themselves as sicker then boys:study. This study showed that teenage girls see .
themselves as less healthy both physically and mentally. The difference grows as they .
get older. At ages twelve to fourteen about three quarters of both boys and girls reported .
very good or excellent health. By the ages of fifteen to seventeen it dropped two thirds .
for girls while it stayed the same for boys according to a survey of 13,000 teenagers. .
Twenty-nine per cent of teenagers report they have a chronic condition such as bronchitis, .
asthma, back pain or migraine headaches. That didn't change by age for boys, it jumped .
to thirty six percent of girls in the older age group. Other studies have shown girls tend .
to have more emotional distress and to be more preoccupied with their health, appearance, .
weight and social relationships then boys. Six percent of twelve to fourteen year olds .
girls say that they had a major depressive episode in the year before, that rose to eleven .
percent in fifteen to seventeen year olds. For groups of boys, only about three percent .
had been depressed. The fourteen percent of teenagers who smoke daily, drink heavily .
on occasion and are overweight were also more likely to say their health wasn't good.