Gender, domestic violence and sickness in Mexico

Abstract

The author proposes that womens disorders are largely rooted in their social relations especially with their mates. She focuses upon domestic violence experienced by poor women in Mexico as one aspect of the marital relationship which influences womens health. The nature of sickness; gender and domestic violence; theoretical and historical perspectives on domestic violence in Mexico; family structure residence and domestic violence; gender violence and sickness; and two case histories documenting the dynamic tension between domestic violence and sickness are discussed. The case histories are examples of the anger and physical violence against women which manifest in diverse non-life threatening disturbances. Physical coercion is rooted in gender and marital relations fostered in Mexican womens dependence upon their spouses for subsistence and self-esteem.