Determinación genérica de la mortalidad masculina

Abstract

It is important to study the differences between the ways of dying of women and men in reproductive age, because of the alarming differences shown in statistics. During productive age, about half of men’s deaths are due to homicides, accidents, suicides, cirrhosis and excessive alcohol ingest. These have been related to destructive masculinity attitudes. This document is an input for scientific reflection about masculine identity as social condition. It puts forward the importance of the use of gender perspectives for the analysis of men mortality. The death causes for men and women aged between fifteen and sixty-four are compared and the primacy of men over women’s deaths is confirmed. This is followed by the analysis of the relative risk of each of the ‘destructive causes’ identified. From the comparison of men and women’s death profiles it is shown here how those differences are related with destructive behaviour corresponding with a masculinity stereotype characterized by the necessity to prove non-weaknesses or passivity. One conclusion of this work is that by denying the social character of gender identity, the possibility to design and perform change action in this context is diminished.