A theory of life's lesions: a contribution to solving the mystery of why women get sick more than men.

In recent decades there has been an explosion of scholarship dealing with all aspects of women's existence, including gender differences. Whatever one's theoretical position regarding gender differences there is ample empirical evidence to show that rates of morbidity differ between men and women in contemporary society. A paradox exists that although women may live longer they tend to experience non-life-threatening conditions more than men do. What lies behind differential morbidity among women and men remains puzzling. In this paper the author attempts to address this puzzle by proposing the concept of life's lesions. It is proposed that women more than men experience life's lesion because they are caught in situations of unresolved contradictions and moral quandaries more than men. A case history from Mexico illustrates the theoretical proposition.