The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare

Abstract

Reviews the book, The Palgrave handbook of gender and healthcare edited by E. Kuhlman and E. Annandale (2010). This collection opens with the bold claim that it appears at ‘an optimum time to draw state-of-the-art thinking on gender and healthcare together into one compilation’. The ascendancy of neoliberalism, the election of many conservative governments, and the global financial crisis (with consequent pressures on public funding) might militate against susceptibility to a gender perspective. On the other hand, as the editors point out in their introductory essay, gender mainstreaming is enjoying wide currency internationally, and recent advocacy and research into men’s health has broadened the focus. The book is a resource to be consulted, rather than an integrated and coherent statement. At times, I wished that contributors had been able to take more account of one another’s texts, several of which effectively pose direct or implicit challenges to one another within a very few pages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)