Women's "sickness": a case of secondary gains or primary losses.
The functionalist view of the sick role is analyzed in terms of its applicability to women. Rather than focusing on the so-called secondary gains of the sick role, attention is given to the primary losses incurred when women's problems are subject to medical definitions and interventions. Women's "sickness" is placed in a historical and sociopolitical context. The "sickness" of the nursing profession and the "sickness" of women are seen as sharing similar symptoms, the same etiology, and hence a common cure.
D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012803:Sick Role; D012927:Social Control, Informal / Q000266:history; D012938:Social Perception; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000266:history; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*