Women Live Longer Because Men Are Dumb

stevesliva writes "CNEWS Canada reported on Sept. 30th that, 'If men dropped their risky ways and bad habits they would live just as long as women.' The story was an interesting spin on a study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which spun the study very differently. (Thanks to ThisIsTrue for bringing the respun spin to my attention.)"

Comments

So they study "behaviors"?

[xgamer04]

One thing this article absolutely fails to mention is the fact that many dangerous and unhealthy (in a sense) jobs are usually done by men.

I'm not a sexist or anything stupid like that, but how many female welders or construction workers (ones who do the construction) do you know?

But who's going to do it?

[Anonymous Coward]

If men dropped their risky ways and bad habits they would live just as long as women.

Of course, we wouldn't have any fire fighters, police officers, construction workers, or coal miners, either.

The brain-dead do the rest of us a favor...

[mraymer]

Hello. I guess I'm a rare example of the male gender since I don't follow the brain-dead rituals of ingesting toxins (alcohol, nicotine, etc). Almost a year ago I turned 21... And I haven't had a single alcoholic beverage in probably three years (the last time was some wine at a family dinner).

I also do not drive. I'll take rides from time to time, but I do not drive... Don't even have a license. Statistically, driving is almost like playing Russian roulette. Humans are such geniuses! Let's drive around in little metal boxes at lethal speeds... a few feet away from each other! Brilliant! Not to mention the fact that people here in the US will drive rather than walk or bike a few blocks... even with the extremely high costs of insurance and gasoline. Oh, and driving isn't exactly exercise. I bike a mere 10-20 miles a month, but I'd hate to think what sort of shape I'd be in if I didn't bike at all...

Anyway, the neat thing is when all the other people ingest toxins, or drive six blocks instead of walking/biking, and then die off early, guess what? They're doing the rest of us a favor. By dying off early, they'll consume less of the limited resources of planet Earth. So go on... be brain-dead and smoke, drink. Don't forget to drive your metal instruments of death around, too. Because when you die, the planet can stop wasting its finite resources on you. ;)

Re:The brain-dead do the rest of us a favor...

[ctr2sprt]

You know what? You're right, it is brain-dead to smoke and drink, and to a lesser extent to drive. But you can live your life in such terror of death that you don't live a day at all. I'd rather die at 75, having lived a good life, than live to 85 and never having done anything. Part of having a good life is having a full life, both the ups and the downs.

I expect you won't take me very seriously. Five or six years ago I would've agreed with you, but my father really taught me this lesson by his example. All I hope is that you stop living your life in fear of death and start living it in delight of life, before it's too late.

Skewed perspectives

[radtea]

Isn't it interesting that when women die or have poor health it's viewed as a societal problem and when men die or have poor health it's viewed as our own damned fault?

Men die because our lives are less valued than women's, and we are brought up to value our lives less. We are surrounded by cultural propoganda dedicated to the proposition that the gruesome death of a young man is, literally, glorious.

Until we value the lives of men as highly as we value the lives of women, men's lives will continue to be shorter and poorer than women's.

The data reported in this study contain many subtle cues as to how men routinely mistreat themselves: for example, men take fewer disability days than women. This is not because men suffer from fewer hurts and harms, but because we are taught from birth that it's more important to sacrifice ourselves than take to care of ourselves. And sacrifice ourselves we do.

--Tom

Take it like a Man.

[anubi]

Uh huh. Where have we heard this?

Male stereotypes. I don't think this is genetics, rather its purely societal/psychological.

This kind of stuff messes up both genders. Women are pressured into anorexic behaviour, and not making use of the talents they have - or often restrained in their endeavors due to pure sexism, as well as the guys which are coaxed into glorification by providing violent entertainment for the masses - i.e. contact sports and the glorification of reckless driving by the media.

I think we are evolving to see beyond this, even though a lot of conservatives sure whine a lot about it. I know the religious cults sure have a lot to say over how people are supposed to be constrained to social functions by which sex they are, irregardless of what capabilities or psychological bent for fulfillment of happiness an individual has.

A lot of guys seem bred from birth to be aggressive, leading to all sorts of diseases resulting from it, whereas a lot of women seem bred from birth to endure a life of servitude and boredom.

But guess what? We are seeing this for what it is. Now, due to mass communication channels opening up out of control of those who use dominance of religion or whatever to control the populace, we see this behaviour for what it is, and have the choice whether or not to follow it.

Often, not following in the norm can be difficult, as you are seen as contentious and not a team player - and often ostracized - when enough people see it, things change. They always have, they always will.