The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

344 Chapter 10

education. The rate of male to female mortal-

ity is 1.84 for those with less than 12 years of

education and 1.56 for those with 13 or more

years of education (Williams, 2003). There

are large differences in pay and employ-

ment between college-educated White and

Black men, and this difference has increased

over the past 20 years (Williams, 2003). I

remember the famous tennis player Arthur

Ashe—who was Black and had HIV from a

blood transfusion—saying it was more diffi-

cult being Black than having AIDS (Deford,

1993). Although this was an era in which

HIV was highly stigmatized, Ashe suffered

much greater discrimination due to his race

than his HIV status, even as a famous athlete.

In addition, Black people are six times more

likely than White people to become victims

of murder (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010).

Sex differences in life expectancy ex-

ist in other nations of the world. Table 10.3

shows sex differences in life expectancies in

Western and Eastern Europe and develop-

ing countries. The sex difference is larger in

differences in life expectancy grew smaller. In

2010, the gap became the smallest it has been

since 1948. The narrowing has been attributed

to a greater proportionate decrease in heart

disease and cancer mortality among men

than women and to a greater increase in the

incidence of lung cancer among women than

men (Rieker & Bird, 2005). Between 1979 and

1986, lung cancer increased by 7% for men

and 44% for women (Rodin & Ickovics, 1990).

These statistics can be directly tied to changes

in smoking patterns. Women’s smoking rates

increased during the second half of the 20th

century, and women were less likely than men

to quit smoking (Waldron, 1995).

As you can see in Table 10.2, there also

are large race differences in mortality, and

the size of the sex difference in mortality is

greater for Black than White people. This is

largely due to the high mortality rate of Black

men. The poor health of Black men is partly

a function of education and partly a func-

tion of their minority status. Sex differences

in mortality are largest for those with less

TABLE 10.2 LIFE EXPECTANCIES OVER THE 20 TH CENTURY TO DATE

Men Women White Men White Women Black Men Black Women

2006 75.1 80.2 75.7 80.6 69.7 76.5

2000 74.1 79.5 74.8 80.0 67.2 74.7

1990 71.8 78.8 72.7 79.4 64.5 73.6

1980 70.0 77.5 70.7 78.1 63.8 72.5

1970 67.1 74.7 68.0 75.6 60.0 68.3

1960 66.6 73.1 67.4 74.1 61.1 66.3

1950 65.6 71.1 66.5 72.2 59.1 62.9

1940 60.8 65.2 62.1 66.6 51.5 54.9

1930 58.1 61.6 59.7 63.5 47.3 49.2

1920 53.6 54.6 54.4 55.6 45.5 45.2

1910 48.4 51.8 48.6 52.0 33.8 37.5

1900 46.3 48.3 46.6 48.7 32.5 33.5

Source: Adapted from U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (2009a).

Note: The figures from 1900 to 1960 for Black people reflect “Black and other” people.

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