To Be a Woman Is to Suffer. The Interplay of Illness, Emotion and the Body in Quechua Women's Experiences

Abstract

Finally I discuss dilemmas that emerge as women work to care for their families in wider social contexts where indigenous knowledge and practices are devalued. Discord between informal and formal systems of care come to the forefront in community settings where health issues are debated. My thesis is elucidated throughout by the voices of women who continually emphasize the significance of female roles and relationships as consequential to experiences of suffering and well-being in contemporary Andean society.