Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Boys and girls, men and women, are biologically different. During their lives, they are also confronted with different social expectations which lead them to interact differently with their physical and social environments. The CIHR Team in Gender, Environment and Health (GEH) was created to contribute to the development of new approaches for the integration of sex/gender in environmental (including occupational) health research (CIHR Gender, Environment and Health Team, 2010). The co-applicants for this Cafe Scientifique are members of this Team who want to build public awareness about sex/gender differences in environmental health problems. We are applying for support to host Cafes in St John's, NL and Montreal, QC. The theme of our Cafes is 'Does our Sex/Gender and our Environment Affect our Health?' Each Cafe will focus on a topic related to this main theme. As a starting point for public discussion, films will be screened about the topics. A panel of scholars from the CIHR GEH Team will be at the Cafes to engage in discussion with the audience. How environmental toxins impact men and women's health is the topic of our Montreal Cafe, at which we will show the film Homo Toxicus. We live in a world in which toxins are global in nature and may be found in the products we use and the places we live, work and play. Some questions that will be addressed include: Are men and women exposed in the same way to toxins? Are the effects on their health the same? How do men and women experience the social consequences of these health problems? The work we do can also affect our health. Workers' health is the topic of our St John's Cafe. We will show films focusing on two case studies in occupational health: male migrant farm workers in Ontario; and female crab processing workers in Newfoundland. Some questions that will be addressed include: How does our gender shape the work we do? How does our gender shape the impact of our work on our health?