Why are women more skeptical than men?

“Respondents who still refuse to be vaccinated against Covid are more often women, young people, feeling close to parties of the radical right and the radical left. »It is with his words that the Slavaco Vague 3 survey, carried out in December 2021 and seeking to draw up the typical profile of the unvaccinated, concludes. A final which joins what all the surveys on vaccination since the start of the crisis indicated: women seem more reluctant to vaccinate against the coronavirus than men.

An Ifop poll showed in January 2021 that 59% of men intended to be vaccinated, against 51% of women. The more the months have passed, the more the support of the population has increased, but a gap has always remained between men and women. Thus, the CoviPrev survey, carried out in May 2021, indicated that 81% of men wanted to be vaccinated, against only 71% of women.

Women less vaccinated than men in percentage

This reluctance took a long time to show itself in the concrete vaccination figures, because women are not only more numerous, but also older and more present in care professions: they were therefore a priority in vaccination, and more vaccinated. in gross numbers. Even today, according to data from Public Health France, women represent 51.5% of people fully vaccinated in France. Only, according to INSEE, they represent 52.3% of the French population over 15 years old.

According to Geodes, 78.7% of women are vaccinated in France, against 79.1% of men, while the male population contains many more minors who are still ineligible or not very vaccinated (only 0.29% of 0-11 year olds received a dose). Women are therefore vaccinated a little less than men in France. How to explain it?

Female paradox

Historically, women have always been more involved than men in anti-vaccination movements, recalls the health sociologist and researcher at Inserm Marie Jauffret-Roustide. On the other hand, “the social sciences show that women are more involved than men in health education, prevention and care and that they have much less risky behavior”, counterbalances l expert.

A paradox that can be explained particularly well in a context of uncertainty such as the current period, with very recent vaccines. “Women will wonder about vaccination and its health issues and will be led to seek more than men information on vaccination, risks and adverse effects”, lists Marie Jauffret-Roustide. And with the rise of the Internet, “a lot of information is false or unverified, which can increase distrust,” she concludes.

This is particularly what emerges from a study on the gender difference in vaccine intentions in France: while men reluctant to vaccination primarily evoke the perception of a harmless disease for them, women put more emphasis on before the idea that the vaccine was rushed or that it is dangerous to health.

Alternative medicine against health violence

Added to this is a boom in alternative medicine, particularly marked among women. Marie Peltier, historian and specialist in conspiracy, notes “a whole movement that has grown, with the idea of ​​the return of nature, of alternative medicine, of witches, in opposition to classical and scientific medicine”. A “classic” medicine which has often been – and still shows – violent with women, underlines the historian, whether it is the adverse effects of the pill, geriatric violence, etc. Even on coronavirus vaccines, the effects of menstrual cycle disruption in women have long been overlooked, deemed anecdotal.

Beyond the violence that classical medicine can have for women, this science remains “a bastion extremely guarded by men with a very virilist discourse during this whole coronavirus crisis”, continues Marie Peltier – and yes, “We are at war”, it is you that we are talking about in particular. Alternative medicine can again gain ground by embodying supposedly more feminine values, such as gentleness, nature, simplicity and others. Marie Peltier also notes a strong attraction for personal development, which has more or less the same consequences: distrust of science in relation to his own feelings, isolation of the being in the face of any outside assistance, the importance of fending for oneself, etc. .

The importance of children

Last but not least, the mental burden of household health. The Slavaco Vague 3 survey shows that among parents aged 5 to 11, mothers are more reluctant than fathers to vaccinate their children, with 76% of unfavorable mothers, 65% of whom are very unfavorable (against 54% and 34% respectively among fathers). For Marie Jauffret-Roustide, this difference is explained by the fact that “women are more involved in taking charge of their family’s health than men in general, in particular the vaccination of children”.

Marie Peltier recalls that the anti-tax conspiracy often fed on fantasies around the vaccination of children, and this long before the coronavirus. She concludes: “Women are more sensitive to the adverse effects of vaccines for their loved ones than men, because they know that they are the ones who will have to deal with them afterwards. “