How Gender Power Relations Shape Men’s Health Behaviours and Outcomes Assessment

Assessment 4: Time-Limited Response

The fourth assignment is a 1,200-word essay response to the question below to be completed by you. Responses must be based only on the prescribed readings.

Rationale

The ability to write clear concise responses based on set readings is a skill requiring a solid grasp of the topic and readings. Students need to demonstrate their understanding of sociological concepts covered in the unit by applying relevant sociological concepts to explain a particular health issue or health inequity.

Details

Provide a clear and concise answer to the question below, using arguments and citing evidence from the set readings, prescribed below.

Educational Integrity 

 Whilst your answers must be based on the set readings, they must be in your own words, ie, paraphrased. When paraphrasing others be sure to cite the relevant reference to acknowledge it is not your work/research/thinking. When you use the ideas/research/arguments of others in your writing without using an in-text citation, eg (Kumar 2057) to acknowledge the intellectual property of the author/s, that is a form of academic dishonesty. While the University knows that the vast majority of students and staff act ethically and honestly, it is opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism and will treat all allegations of dishonesty seriously.

Please include the page number in in-text citations (even though this is not strictly part of the APA style) - this makes it easier for markers to double-check if need be. Do not quote verbatim (word-for-word) from the readings unless it is not possible to make the same argument in your own words. Do not just replace every sixth word or so with a synonym – this is a disingenuous form of paraphrasing. If you must quote a small passage verbatim, use quotation marks to indicate they are not your words as well as citing the relevant reference and page number, at the end of the sentence. As a guide, the nature of this assessment means most sentences will likely have an in-text citations.

Students are expected to use AI responsibly and must appropriately acknowledge its use. As a general guide for using AI responsibly, keep in mind that the purpose of assessments is to test whether students’ levels of engagement with the content of that unit are high enough to pass, so as to ensure the genuine value of the degree comprised of all the units passed by a student, which will ultimately serve as a qualification for employment in the medical, engineering, nursing, aeronautical, teaching or other field. Inappropriate use of AI in assessments is identified as a form of contract cheating under the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. To avoid academic integrity breaches when using AI:

• Follow assessment guidelines. For example, for all four assessments in this unit, ALL the prescribed readings must be cited and ONLY the prescribed readings may be cited. 
• Be cautious and critical:AI-generated content may include inaccurate information and reflect biases from the training data. AI-generated content does not cite its sources. Independently verify AI-generated content to ensure its integrity, accuracy and suitability.
• Use AI to develop/enhance rather than replace your communication and other skills that you need to develop in order to succeed at and beyond university. For example, using grammar- and spelling-checkers are a good way to improve your writing.
• Keep detailed records of all AI use including notes, drafts, AI inputs and AI outputs. If you do use AI, keep track throughout your assignment process of all the ways you have used generative AI (eg the AI tool/s used, the questions entered), and keep copies of generative AI outputs as evidence of each step of your research and writing process, including how you verified any AI-generated content to ensure its integrity, accuracy and suitability. Keeping these records is important in case there is doubt about the accuracy of your acknowledgement or in the event of any other academic integrity allegation.
• Acknowledge the use of AI: Never submit AI-generated content as your own work. If you do use AI as part of an assessment, you should clearly acknowledge any and all use of AI software and/or tools. This includes grammar- and/or spell-checker writing assistance tools (like Grammerly) and reference generators (like EndNote). Reference all sources cited (NB: AI tools like ChatGP and Cogniti do not cite their sources).
• Never enter personal or sensitive information such as your full name, birthday, address, health information or passwords. Do not enter copyright materials, such as the Library's eResources (eg the prescribed readings) or the University's proprietary teaching resources.

As per university guidelines, if you do use any type of AI tool in an assessment you will need to include a statement at the end of your submitted work explaining:

• that you have used AI tools in completing the work
• which part/s of the assessment are your own and which part/s are AI-generated
• the name and version of the automated writing or generative AI tools you have used, the publisher and the uniform resource locator (URL)
• a brief description of how you have used AI tools

The statement (not included in the word count), should also declare the following:

1. You did not enter any confidential, private, or personal information or the intellectual property of another person into any AI tool.
2. You have personally read and interpreted all sources you have cited.
3. All uncited ideas are your own original ideas (or general knowledge).
4. You take full responsibility for any inaccuracies, oversimplification, generalisation, or bias present in your work.

Having no AI statement/declaration at the end of an assessment will be taken to mean that AI tools were not used in the submission. For more information on academic honesty, see the University’s academic integrity site.

Submission

The assignment is to be submitted electronically as either a .doc or .docx file through Canvas, where it will be analysed by Turnitin, by no later than. As this is a time-limited assessment, simple extensions are not available and an alternative topic and seven-day period will be provided for those receiving a special consideration. Assignments must be clearly marked with your student identification number (SID) but NOT your name or other identifying details so the assessments can be marked anonymously.

Assessment 4 Question

 In Australia the main causes of death are largely similar for both sexes, yet men die an average four years younger than women (Broom et al., 2019: 136). Attributing this difference primarily to biological differences between men and women (the Sex Differences Approach) has limited explanatory power, particularly in OECD countries like Australia and the US, where most of this statistical difference can be accounted for by men from marginalized groups. Differing morbidity and mortality patterns for men and women can be much better understood using a Gender Relations Framework. Question 1: Using a Gender Relations Framework, and with a particular focus on gender power relations, explain how gender (rather than sex) underlies: i) men’s greater exposure to various health risk/s and; ii) men’s attitudes to health maintenance, preventative healthcare and use of health services. NB: Don’t just state or describe “what” men do which makes them more likely than women to be exposed to a certain health risk; explain “why” it is that men are more likely than women to do/not do ‘x’ in the first place, with particular reference to masculinity and gender power relations. Also, keep in mind that gender intersects with other social structures, so be careful not to say all men do ‘x’ if, for example, it is mainly men of a particular class and/or ethnicity.

Assessment Overview

Summary of Assessment Requirements

Assessment 4: Time-Limited Response required students to produce a 1,200-word essay based solely on the prescribed readings for the unit. The task aimed to assess the student’s ability to:

• Apply sociological concepts to analyze a contemporary health issue;

• Demonstrate understanding of the Gender Relations Framework and gender power relations;

• Distinguish between sex-based (biological) and gender-based (social and cultural) explanations for health disparities;

• Critically explain why men exhibit higher health risks and lower engagement with health maintenance and preventive healthcare;

• Integrate evidence from the set readings with accurate in-text citations (including page numbers).

The essay question asked students to analyze why men die on average four years earlier than women in Australia, not just by describing risk behaviors, but by linking these patterns to masculinity, socialization, and power dynamics within gender relations.

The key expectations were:

• Use of the Gender Relations Framework (Connell, 2009) as the main analytical lens.

• Avoiding biological reductionism by focusing on social structures, gender norms, and hegemonic masculinity.

• Discussing intersectionality how class, race, and marginalization shape men’s health outcomes differently.

• Maintaining academic integrity, with paraphrased arguments and full citation of set readings only.

• Submission of a clear, concise, and critical essay, meeting ethical and academic writing standards.

Key Pointers to Be Covered in the Assessment

To meet the marking rubric and learning outcomes, the following core areas were identified as essential:

1. Introduction

   • Present the issue of men’s lower life expectancy.

   • Briefly introduce the Gender Relations Framework as a sociological approach.

   • State the essay’s aims to explain men’s higher exposure to risks and attitudes toward healthcare.

2. Understanding Gender Relations Framework

   • Explain how gender is a socially constructed system of power influencing health behavior.

   • Discuss Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity the cultural ideal of male dominance and self-reliance.

3. Part I: Men’s Exposure to Health Risks

   • Analyze why men engage more in high-risk activities (e.g., smoking, alcohol, dangerous occupations).

   • Link these to masculinity norms that equate risk-taking with strength or control.

   • Show how gendered labor divisions and economic marginalization expose certain men to occupational and social health risks.

4. Part II: Men’s Attitudes to Health Maintenance

   • Discuss why men avoid medical help or view healthcare as a sign of weakness.

   • Relate to cultural ideals of self-reliance and stoicism embedded in masculine identity.

   • Examine how gender power relations discourage vulnerability and promote dominance over one’s body.

5. Intersectionality and Marginalized Men

   • Acknowledge that not all men share the same risks.

   • Explain how working-class or minority men face compounded disadvantages due to both gender and socioeconomic status.

6. Conclusion

   • Summarize findings: men’s poorer health outcomes stem from socialized gender roles rather than biological sex.

   • Reflect on how health promotion should challenge rigid masculine ideals.

Academic Mentor’s Step-by-Step Guidance Process

The academic mentor guided the student through a structured learning process designed to strengthen analytical writing, sociological reasoning, and academic integrity. The mentorship process unfolded in several key stages:

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