Script:
Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in North Carolina (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). HPV is known to cause skin growths and is linked to many different kinds of cancers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). Vaccines have been developed in order to prevent transmission and to protect against the virus, however, the rate of vaccination is much lower than desired. More specifically, vaccination rates amongst men are significantly lower than that of females. In North Carolina alone, males have a vaccination rate of 55.8% and females have a vaccination rate of 65.8% (America’s Health Rankings). But what about HPV contributes to its lower male vaccination rate? The answer—the disparity between men and women’s rates of vaccinations for HPV is a direct result of the patriarchal society that exists in North Carolina and the U.S. as a whole.
The United States is a patriarchal society, meaning that men are the center of society and oppress, dominate, and exploit women.. The patriarchy is deeply ingrained in our world, so much so that the earliest written legal codes were centered around “the enforcement of women’s social, economic and sexual subordination” . The code of Hammurabi, written in 1752 B.C. included 73 laws that established the superiority of men and regulated the sexual behavior of women (Omvedt, 1987). From this it can be seen that female sexuality has and continues to be used to oppress women.
One way women are oppressed outside the law is in placing the burden of public sexual health and the burden of sexual safety almost completely onto them. When it comes to preventing pregnancy, women are given the task of taking birth control. This medication has a list of side effects that include dangerous ailments like blood clots, depression, and even heart attacks (How Safe is the Birth Control Pill). Medications have been developed in order to make male contraceptives accessible, however research has not been pushed heavily and the burden remains almost entirely on women to prevent pregnancy. Essentially women are used as a scapegoat for men to avoid the burden of preventing pregnancy.
This is also the case when it comes to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Oftentimes misogyny, or prejudice against women, goes undetected. Today women are oppressed by carrying the burden of public sexual health and safety and it is not a coincidence that male vaccination rates for HPV are lower. This problem is not one of individuals, it is one of society and its institutions. “Significantly more women reported that a doctor had recommended the HPV vaccine for them or an immediate family member when compared to men.”(McBride & Singh, 2018). This is evidence of gendered care that negatively affects and oppresses women.
The solution to bridging the gap in vaccination rates is simple, but not easily done. Doctors should be trained in identifying gender bias and encouraged to equally recommend vaccinations for HPV amongst men and women. In addition to this, a public campaign involving the UNC school system to raise awareness of HPV, its symptoms, and the vaccination can help to increase vaccination rates not only amongst men, but also women in North Carolina. Unfortunately, this issue has many more layers to it than simply telling doctors to recommend vaccinations equally. The real issue here is the patriarchal society we live in. Dismantling long ingrained notions of gender inequality will likely take centuries, but until then encouraging doctors to educate themselves on gender inequality and how their own biases may affect the care that they provide will help exponentially in improving the health of not only women, but men as well.
Explication of Research:
Human papillomavirus, oftentimes called HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). HPV is known to cause skin/mucous membrane growths and is linked to many different kinds of cancers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). Vaccines have been developed in order to protect against the virus and prevent transmission, however, the rate of vaccination is much lower than desired. More specifically, vaccination rates amongst men are significantly lower than that of females. In North Carolina alone, males have a vaccination rate of 55.8% and females have a vaccination rate of 65.8% (America’s Health Rankings). This begs the question, what about HPV contributes to its lower vaccination rate in men? The disparity between men and women’s rates of vaccinations for HPV is a direct result of the patriarchal society that exists not only in North Carolina, but the U.S. as a whole.
The United States is a patriarchal society, meaning that men are the center of society and oppress, dominate, and exploit women. In order to understand how a patriarchal society can negatively affect women it is important to understand misogyny. According to Doctor Felipa Lopes, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, “Misogyny is then primarily a property of a social environment: a misogynistic social environment functions to enforce patriarchal social relations by visiting hostility and social adversity on women who are held as violating patriarchal standards, norms and expectations. Individuals and their behavior are derivatively misogynistic insofar as they reflect or perpetuate misogyny in their social context, regardless of their psychological state. In all its diverse manifestations, misogyny works as the ‘law enforcement’ branch of the patriarchal order, defending it against women’s non-compliance” (Lopes, 2019, p. 1). When discussing the sociology behind the patriarchy and how men perpetrate it Lopes states that, “They will probably police other women’s bodies and behavior, distance themselves from ‘bad’ women, actively signal their loyalty to patriarchal figures and try to excel by patriarchal standards” (Lopes, 2019). The patriarchy is deeply ingrained into the western world, so much so that the earliest written legal codes were centered around “the enforcement of women’s social, economic and sexual subordination” (Omvedt, 1987). The code of Hammurabi which was created in 1752 B.C. included 73 laws that established the superiority of men and regulated the sexual behavior of women (Omvedt, 1987). From this it can be seen that female sexuality has and continues to be used to oppress women. While there is still some legal evidence of women being oppressed through sexuality, for example The Texas Heartbeat Act in which women are no longer allowed to receive an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, much of this oppression is more subtle (Texas “Heartbeat” Abortion Law).
Oftentimes misogyny exists in the form of everyday microaggressions from both men and women. Essentially, misogyny is so enmeshed in society it is invisible to the untrained eye and is now a norm. One of the ways in which women are oppressed outside of the law, is in placing the burden of public sexual health and the burden of sexual safety almost completely on women instead of men. When it comes to preventing pregnancy, women are given the task of taking birth control. This medication has a list of side effects that include dangerous ailments like blood clots, depression, and even heart attacks (How Safe is the Birth Control Pill). There are medications that have been developed in order to make male contraceptives accessible, however research has not been pushed heavily and the burden remains almost entirely on women to prevent pregnancy. Essentially women are used as a scapegoat for men to avoid the burden of preventing pregnancy.
This is also the case when it comes to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. It is not a coincidence that vaccination rates for HPV are higher for women than men in North Carolina. The reason for this is the deeply embedded patriarchy within Western Society. Women are not only responsible for preventing pregnancy, they are also responsible for preventing the spread of HPV. This problem is not one of individuals, it is one of society and its institutions. According to a research study published in 2018, “significantly more women reported that a doctor had recommended the HPV vaccine for them or an immediate family member when compared to men.” (McBride & Singh, 2018). Although the vaccine is effective for both men and women, men are not being recommended the vaccine by doctors as much as they should be. This is evidence of gendered care that negatively affects and oppresses women. Not only are women more at risk for cancers from low rates of vaccination rates in men, they are likely to receive blame for the spread sexually transmitted diseases. To support this according to Joel Rakwar a Public Health Consultant from the University of Washington, “Violence against women was expected in relation to a positive test result.” (Rakwar, 1999). This shows how women are held directly responsible for their ailments.
The solution to bridging the gap in vaccination rates is simple, but not easily done. Firstly doctors should be trained to not perpetuate gender inequality in healthcare. This can be done by requiring specific training on identifying gender bias and encouraging doctors to recommend vaccinations for HPV more frequently to men. In addition to this, a public campaign involving the UNC school system to raise awareness of HPV, its symptoms and the vaccination can help to increase vaccination rates not only amongst men, but women in North Carolina as well. Unfortunately this issue has many more layers to it than simply telling doctors to recommend vaccinations equally. The real issue here is the patriarchal society we live in. Dismantling the long ingrained notions of gender inequality will likely take centuries, but until then encouraging doctors to educate themselves on gender inequality and how their own biases may affect the care that they provide will help exponentially in improving the health of not only women, but men as well.
Graph used in Reference Slide:
HPV Vaccination in North Carolina. (n.d.). America’s Health Rankings. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Immunize_HPV/state/NC.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/stdfact-hpv.htm.
How Safe is the Birth Control Pill. (n.d.) Planned Parenthood. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/birth-control-pill/how-safe-is-the-birth-control-pill
HPV Vaccination in North Carolina. (n.d.). America’s Health Rankings. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Immunize_HPV/state/NC.
McBride, K. R., & Singh, S. (2018). Predictors of Adults’ Knowledge and Awareness of HPV, HPV-Associated Cancers, and the HPV Vaccine: Implications for Health Education. Health Education & Behavior, 45(1), 68–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198117709318
Omvedt, G. (1987). The Origin of Patriarchy [Review of The Creation of Patriarchy, by G. Lerner]. Economic and Political Weekly, 22(44), WS70–WS72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4377665.
Texas “Heartbeat” Abortion Law. (n.d.). American College of Physicians. https://www.acponline.org/advocacy/state-health-policy/texas-heartbeat-abortion-law.
Featured Image Source:
Naeblys. Human Papillomavirus Infection (n.d.). Accessed March 24, 2022. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/human-papillomavirus-infection-virus-hpv-most-1214814547.