IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v335y2023ics0277953623005865.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Different logics of pain: the gendered dimension of chronic pain in a relational setting

Author

Listed:
  • Melander, Stina

Abstract

This study aims to increase our understanding of the gendered dimension of living with chronic pain within a relational context. The empirical setting for this study is Sweden, a country widely recognised for its long history of gender equality. Interview responses from 21 women and 12 men were analysed using the feminist notion of the marriage contract, outlining the terms for women and men living together in a relationship. The result shows how living with chronic pain leads to processes of grief and altered priorities. Respondents emphasize the importance of equality. However, men and women apply different logics when deciding which tasks to prioritise. Although there is no distinct pattern regarding whether or not couples share housework equally, the allocation of responsibilities appears to follow a particular pattern: men tend to prioritise their rehabilitation to become good fathers, women are grateful and prioritise the family before her own well-being. The study indicates that while attitudes and the allocation of household chores may have changed in the past few decades, the marriage contract still restricts women from employment and rehabilitation.

Suggested Citation

  • Melander, Stina, 2023. "Different logics of pain: the gendered dimension of chronic pain in a relational setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:335:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005865
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623005865
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116229?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Livia Sz. Oláh & Eva Bernhardt, 2008. "Sweden: Combining childbearing and gender equality," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(28), pages 1105-1144.
    2. Courtenay, Will H., 2000. "Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(10), pages 1385-1401, May.
    3. Werner, Anne & Malterud, Kirsti, 2003. "It is hard work behaving as a credible patient: encounters between women with chronic pain and their doctors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 1409-1419, October.
    4. Johansson, Eva E. & Hamberg, Katarina & Westman, Göran & Lindgren, Gerd, 1999. "The meanings of pain: an exploration of women's descriptions of symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(12), pages 1791-1802, June.
    5. Lillrank, Annika, 2003. "Back pain and the resolution of diagnostic uncertainty in illness narratives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 1045-1054, September.
    6. Glenton, Claire, 2003. "Chronic back pain sufferers--striving for the sick role," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 2243-2252, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richardson, Jane C. & Ong, Bie Nio & Sim, Julius, 2006. "Is chronic widespread pain biographically disruptive?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1573-1585, September.
    2. Dumit, Joseph, 2006. "Illnesses you have to fight to get: Facts as forces in uncertain, emergent illnesses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 577-590, February.
    3. Koekkoek, B. & Hutschemaekers, G. & van Meijel, B. & Schene, A., 2011. "How do patients come to be seen as 'difficult'?: A mixed-methods study in community mental health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 504-512, February.
    4. Sim, Julius & Madden, Sue, 2008. "Illness experience in fibromyalgia syndrome: A metasynthesis of qualitative studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 57-67, July.
    5. Corbett, Mandy & Foster, Nadine E. & Ong, Bie Nio, 2007. "Living with low back pain--Stories of hope and despair," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(8), pages 1584-1594, October.
    6. Yang, Yulin & Huang, Rui & Grol-Prokopczyk, Hanna & Torres, Jacqueline M., 2022. "Social network change after new-onset pain among middle-aged and older European adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    7. Hubert Pinto, 2023. "Relationship between Gender Roles and Marital Stability among Couples in Selected Counties of Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 1629-1647, October.
    8. Sánchez-Sandoval, Yolanda & Aragón, Claudia & Verdugo, Laura, 2022. "Future expectations of adolescents in Residential Care: The role of self-perceptions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    9. Pollitt, Amanda M. & Donnelly, Rachel & Mernitz, Sara E. & Umberson, Debra, 2020. "Differences in how spouses influence each other's alcohol use in same- and different-sex marriages: A daily diary study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    10. Tomas Frejka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 5: Determinants of family formation and childbearing during the societal transition in Central and Eastern Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(7), pages 139-170.
    11. Wiklund, Maria & Bengs, Carita & Malmgren-Olsson, Eva-Britt & Öhman, Ann, 2010. "Young women facing multiple and intersecting stressors of modernity, gender orders and youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(9), pages 1567-1575, November.
    12. Parker, Rhiannon & Larkin, Theresa & Cockburn, Jon, 2017. "A visual analysis of gender bias in contemporary anatomy textbooks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 106-113.
    13. Michelle Calvarese, 2015. "The Effect of Gender on Stress Factors: An Exploratory Study among University Students," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-8, November.
    14. Oliffe, John, 2005. "Constructions of masculinity following prostatectomy-induced impotence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 2249-2259, May.
    15. Madsen, Julian & Jobson, Laura & Slewa-Younan, Shameran & Li, Haoxiang & King, Kylie, 2024. "Mental health literacy among Arab men living in high-income Western countries: A systematic review and narrative synthesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    16. Hatcher, Abigail M. & Gibbs, Andrew & McBride, Ruari-Santiago & Rebombo, Dumisani & Khumalo, Mzwakhe & Christofides, Nicola J., 2022. "Gendered syndemic of intimate partner violence, alcohol misuse, and HIV risk among peri-urban, heterosexual men in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    17. Månsdotter, Anna & Lundin, Andreas, 2010. "How do masculinity, paternity leave, and mortality associate? -A study of fathers in the Swedish parental & child cohort of 1988/89," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 576-583, August.
    18. Ann-Zofie Duvander & Trude Lappegård & Synøve N. Andersen & Ólöf Garðarsdóttir & Gerda Neyer & Ida Viklund, 2019. "Parental leave policies and continued childbearing in Iceland, Norway, and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(51), pages 1501-1528.
    19. Dahlin, Johanna & Härkönen, Juho, 2013. "Cross-national differences in the gender gap in subjective health in Europe: Does country-level gender equality matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 24-28.
    20. Pilkington, Karen & Ridge, Damien T. & Igwesi-Chidobe, Chinonso N. & Chew-Graham, Carolyn A. & Little, Paul & Babatunde, Opeyemi & Corp, Nadia & McDermott, Clare & Cheshire, Anna, 2020. "A relational analysis of an invisible illness: A meta-ethnography of people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and their support needs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:335:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005865. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.