I found both readings very interesting and enjoyed learning about the differences between men and women’s health, in relation to cardiovascular disease, immune response, and mental health. I think Rieker and Bird are spot on when they argue that “constrained choice” needs to be examined further. I feel that the questions raised when looking at health disparities between genders with this new paradigm are more “big picture” types of questions that link seemingly unrelated issues together (i.e. maternal leave and breast cancer).

The following is a quote I found significant from the Rieker reading: “Because women are more likely to become single parents, caregiver to an aging spouse, widowed, and to live well into their 80s and beyond, they also have different social and economic needs and thus may not be served equally well by social policies designed to ignore these differences” (43). I believe this quote highlights the importance of our class and the need to look at how health policy impacts women’s health.

Ultimately, I feel that these two readings answered the question of Why Women’s Health? We ought to look at women’s health, because there are social and biological differences between men and women that social policies have overlooked. I think this goes along with what Rachel said about the majority of healthcare professionals being men and the effect on women’s health if male doctors overlook key social and biological differences between the two genders.