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Research Article

Matriliny reverses gender disparities in inflammation and hypertension among the Mosuo of China

View ORCID ProfileAdam Z. Reynolds, View ORCID ProfileKatherine Wander, View ORCID ProfileChun-Yi Sum, Mingjie Su, View ORCID ProfileMelissa Emery Thompson, View ORCID ProfilePaul L. Hooper, Hui Li, View ORCID ProfileMary K. Shenk, View ORCID ProfileKathrine E. Starkweather, View ORCID ProfileTami Blumenfield, and View ORCID ProfileSiobhán M. Mattison
PNAS December 1, 2020 117 (48) 30324-30327; first published November 16, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014403117
Adam Z. Reynolds
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
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  • ORCID record for Adam Z. Reynolds
  • For correspondence: adamzreynolds@unm.edu smattison@unm.edu
Katherine Wander
bDepartment of Anthropology, Binghamton University (State University of New York), Binghamton, NY 13902;
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Chun-Yi Sum
cDivision of Social Sciences, College of General Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215;
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Mingjie Su
dMinistry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
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Melissa Emery Thompson
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
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  • ORCID record for Melissa Emery Thompson
Paul L. Hooper
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
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  • ORCID record for Paul L. Hooper
Hui Li
dMinistry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
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Mary K. Shenk
eDepartment of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802;
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  • ORCID record for Mary K. Shenk
Kathrine E. Starkweather
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
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  • ORCID record for Kathrine E. Starkweather
Tami Blumenfield
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
fDepartment of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
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Siobhán M. Mattison
aDepartment of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
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  • ORCID record for Siobhán M. Mattison
  • For correspondence: adamzreynolds@unm.edu smattison@unm.edu
  1. Edited by Douglas S. Massey, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved September 30, 2020 (received for review July 8, 2020)

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Significance

Greater autonomy afforded to women in matrilineal societies has been hypothesized to benefit women’s health. Among the Mosuo, a society with both matrilineal and patrilineal subpopulations, we found that gender disparities in chronic disease are not only ameliorated but reversed in matriliny compared with patriliny. Gender disparities in health and chronic disease can thus be tied directly to cultural influences on health, including inequalities in autonomy and resource access between men and women.

Abstract

Women experience higher morbidity than men, despite living longer. This is often attributed to biological differences between the sexes; however, the majority of societies in which these disparities are observed exhibit gender norms that favor men. We tested the hypothesis that female-biased gender norms ameliorate gender disparities in health by comparing gender differences in inflammation and hypertension among the matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo of China. Widely reported gender disparities in health were reversed among matrilineal Mosuo compared with patrilineal Mosuo, due to substantial improvements in women’s health, with no concomitant detrimental effects on men. These findings offer evidence that gender norms limiting women’s autonomy and biasing inheritance toward men adversely affect the health of women, increasing women’s risk for chronic diseases with tremendous global health impact.

  • gender norms
  • health
  • chronic disease
  • matrilineal societies

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: adamzreynolds{at}unm.edu or smattison{at}unm.edu.
  • Author contributions: A.Z.R., K.W., H.L., M.K.S., T.B., and S.M.M. designed research; A.Z.R., K.W., C.Y.S., M.S., and S.M.M. performed research; A.Z.R., K.W., and P.L.H. analyzed data; and A.Z.R., K.W., M.E.T., P.L.H., M.K.S., K.E.S., and S.M.M. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no competing interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2014403117/-/DCSupplemental.

Data Availability.

All study data are included in the article and SI Appendix.

Published under the PNAS license.

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Matriliny reverses gender disparities in inflammation and hypertension among the Mosuo of China
Adam Z. Reynolds, Katherine Wander, Chun-Yi Sum, Mingjie Su, Melissa Emery Thompson, Paul L. Hooper, Hui Li, Mary K. Shenk, Kathrine E. Starkweather, Tami Blumenfield, Siobhán M. Mattison
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2020, 117 (48) 30324-30327; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014403117

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Matriliny reverses gender disparities in inflammation and hypertension among the Mosuo of China
Adam Z. Reynolds, Katherine Wander, Chun-Yi Sum, Mingjie Su, Melissa Emery Thompson, Paul L. Hooper, Hui Li, Mary K. Shenk, Kathrine E. Starkweather, Tami Blumenfield, Siobhán M. Mattison
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2020, 117 (48) 30324-30327; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014403117
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