title: [Gender equality and women's health].
abstract: Two stories are told: one that took place in the Middle Ages in Florence, Italy, the other in the 90s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both refer to the principle of Justice, the ethical pillar of Equality. From them is developed a gender analysis of the women's health situation and how much it reflects the iniquities that result from the conditions of social inequality to which they are subjected. The conclusion is that the adoption of gender equality as an ethical concept associated with the principles of social justice and human rights means to look over the daily life of thousands of women, to be indignant with the suffering and to bring about transformation, without mixing the right for dignified and respectable assistance because they are being, before anything, citizens, with the need to be healthy and productive, for being generators and maintainers of the present and future work force, of whom society depends for generating social wealth.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem em Saúde Coletiva da Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade de São Paulo. rmgsfon@usp.br
authors.forename: Rosa Maria Godoy Serpa
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: da Fonseca
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012935:Social Justice; D016387:Women's Health