For example, men are much more likely than women both to exercise more and to drink immoderately (perhaps reflecting a traditional masculine ethic).
it seems like a lot of people depend on commonly seen gender stereotypes to define healthiness
8 Matching Annotations
- Feb 2026
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The individual’s own definition of their health is central (rather than the physician’s), and the definition is stated in positive terms.
The sociological definition of health really seems like the correct way to think about health. It allows an individual to define how they feel themselves.
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In reality, medical professionals, the patient, and the patient’s significant others are all involved in the definitional process.
This is important to remember. If a person feels like something is wrong, they should have the right to speak on that and believe in that. Doctors shouldn’t be able to absolutely tell you something isn’t wrong if you feel it.
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rather, it is the absence of a negative state—if you’re not sick, you’re well.
I think this is a weird thing to have as a “set” rule in most occasions. A lot of doctors focus on this definition, which leaves a lot of gaps. It seems very simple to just define healthiness as an absence of illness
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- Jan 2026
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(3) social movements (e.g., the pro-life and pro-choice movements) that have developed around these ethical issues
Social movements are important to include in medical sociologists work. Since so many people’s opinions differ, medical sociologists need to learn all of these opinions and how they are formed, along with those principles.
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Because the factors that lead to degenerative diseases are more obviously tied to social patterns and lifestyle, the necessity for sociological contributions became more apparent.
This shows how important social research is in healthcare. Cause of disease can often be confused, but learning that harmful diseases can be caused by lifestyle is an important find in medical sociology. It teaches people how to treat themselves and how their environments affect them.
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As a specialization, medical sociology encompasses a body of knowledge which places health and disease in a social, cultural, and behavioral context.
I like how this explains how medical sociology brings a certain kind of social sense into medicine. Social, cultural, and behavioral aspects are often overseen in healthcare when they can sometimes be the root of medical issues.
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We see how the social meanings of COVID-19 differed among groups, with some believing the virus was a hoax, some rejecting masks and vaccines, and others putting their faith in dangerous alternative treatments not endorsed by the medical community
This whole paragraph uses the idea of depiction to emphasize the meaning of “social” in this context. It shows how socially connected COVID was, tying it together with the idea of sociology. This paragraph gives us ideas on how everyone acted differently socially during COVID.
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