Because all women worry about their weight!

[BertieBotts]

I was just looking up some stuff about asthma, and came across a section on the Asthma UK site called "Asthma & women" - it talks about how hormonal changes can affect things, osteoporosis which is more common in women, and then this:

"Will the steroids I take for my asthma make me put on weight?"

NOTHING to do with an increased risk for women!

Unfortunately, it is true, and one of the first things many women would think of when steroids are mentioned.

To be fair, I think alot of men think that as well. At least my late dad and BIL did, but if it's only in the section on asthma and women, and not either the general section or any separate one for men, that would seem off.

I'm not sure how it's unfeminist to care about putting on weight. Could you explain?

I think it's a sad reflection on how women are still largely judged on what they look like. Even successful and happy women who suffer from asthma know this.

Yes that's what I meant Kritiq. It's not that it's unfeminist to care - it's sexist to assume that only women will care.

People are judged on how they look. Not women, people. And they are judged by other people. Not men, people.

If you are a savvy woman (or man) you know this and accept it, and make sure that the judgements that people make are the ones you want them to make. And if that involves asthma sufferers worrying that steroids will result in weight gain, I don't see that as a feminist issue.

So why is it specifically in the women's section?

At least in my experience almost all women do worry about their weight. Most of my female friends are fairly high-achieving independent types in their late 20s / early 30s and every one of them worries about it to some degree, unless they're naturally skinny. The Asthma UK website is just reflecting the (sad) reality.

Yes, I agree that more women than men are concerned about weight and body image because women are socially conditioned to be preoccupied with having a socially acceptable appearance. That doesn't mean it's a good thing though.

The difficulty with playing along with this, as the Asthma UK website seems to have done, is it could be seen to be endorsing the idea that it's normal, it's "okay" for women to fret about their weight. If they had put the weight information either in a section aimed at all clients or in sections tailored separately for men and women, it wouldn't be an issue.

It also occurs to me that in not providing information on potential weight gain to men (who are as much at risk of this with steroid therapy as women are,) they are actually doing men a disservice by not providing them with full information on the side effects.

I agree, it shouldn't be in the 'women' section.

It's an incidental point, but I do notice how much less information men get about weight and risks - my DH is overweight and there are things he simply doesn't know about weight gain, which are things I've just absorbed through weight being marketed as a women's issue. Which is also a problem because it encourages women to sort of take charge of the health of their partners, too (yet another bit of wifework).

Kritiq I totally agree that it isn't a good thing, but I guess Asthma UK has to address the issues women are actually raising.