This study theorizes that gender-based health differences are tethered to a deep-seated concern for social status and the
extent to which gendered practices maintain this status. Further, whether practices are publically visible may explain the
varying effects of these gendered elements. This insight is important because, as the data suggest, altering some gendered
practices without addressing the motivating status systems of social honor may not produce the wholly positive health
effects intended. With a more complete understanding of status dynamics in particular contexts, researchers can better
understand gender as a determinant of health inequalities. For now, it seems clear that gendered practices weave themselves
into men’s and women’s health in often damaging and sometimes conflicting ways.