Why Men Die Before Women

A look into the social, cultural, and biological factors in the life expectancy ‘sex gap’.

J. C. Lai

It’s not hard to observe the gender gap in mortality in our everyday lives. As we shop in the grocery stores, or catch the bus, we subconsciously perceive a glaring fact in our society: women outnumber men.

In fact, the phenomenon has occurred throughout history and is prevalent across the world. Today, Australian women are on average, living four years longer than men, who live on average 81.3 years.

So why do men, on average, die before women?

Historically, the role of men and the cultural norms associated with conducting ‘masculine tasks’ has been the key contributor to the life expectancy ‘sex gap.’ In tribal societies, men were often responsible for protecting their communities from external threats, placing them in higher risk of injury and death and widening the gap with women who were often expected to conduct safer traditional domestic roles within society. Similarly, in times of war, men have historically been expected to be the primary combatants in warfare, putting them at much higher risk of death. The mental effects that the brutalisation of life faced amidst the activities of men also bestows a psychological toll which causes long-term effects on their physical health and well-being, driving the gap between the life expectancy of men and women.

However, in today’s civilized and diplomatic society, the phenomenon continues to prevail, revealing how the gap extends beyond the role of men.

Biologically, higher levels of testosterone and delayed development of the brain compared to women has caused what scientists coin as “biological destiny.” The frontal lobe of a boy’s brain, in charge of controlling judgement and consideration of one’s actions, develops much later than in their female counterparts, causing irrational accidents to occur more frequently in teenage boys. 

The Australian Institute of Health Data and Welfare data shows that males aged between 15-24 are about three times more likely to die from irrational causes, including accidental poisoning (drug or alcohol overdose) and car accidents. Furthermore, higher levels of testosterone increase the risk of developing certain health conditions, such as heart disease and prostate cancer, and biologically influences them to engage in riskier behaviour, such as smoking and heavy drinking. The Y chromosome in men is also more likely to develop mutations compared to the X chromosome of women, making developmental disorders more common among boys, hence shortening life expectancy.

Socially, there is a stigma surrounding treatment amongst men, making mental and physical health issues disproportionately affect the male population. “Underpinning risk-taking is that notion of self-reliance and stoicism; the idea of power and dominance”, says Seidler, a researcher from the University of Melbourne. The societal norm for men to be independent and avoid seeking help as it represents a sign of weakness has accentuated the emergence of mental health issues and has seen the influx of suicide rates amongst men, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare claiming that males are 3 to 4 times more likely to commit suicide over females and 8% less likely to seek professional help.

The same can be seen for men seeking healthcare from doctors, with Australian men, on average, seeking help from a GP 9% less than women in regard to physical health and much more likely to skip routine health screens. Seidler claims the main driver of this phenomenon is that “Men only want to go to a doctor when they have a good reason to, and this is when it’s hardest to treat. Preventative help-seeking is not a masculine trait, whereas crisis-based help is very much so.” 

The gap between the life expectancy of men and women prevalent today is a striking revelation that offers an insight into the cultural and societal norms and stigmas surrounding what men should and shouldn’t do. To balance the inequality, it should be made societally acceptable and encouraged for men to seek help to deconstruct the regressive and outdated societal constructs placed onto men over history.