Historically, intersectionality has been an underutilized framework in sociological research on racial/ethnic and gender inequalities in health. To demonstrate its utility and importance, we conduct an intersectional analysis of the social stratification of health using the exemplar of hypertension—a health condition in which racial/ethnic and gender differences have been well-documented. Previous research has tended to examine these differences separately and ignore how the interaction of social status dimensions may influence health over time. Using seven waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study and multilevel logistic regression models, we found a multiplicative effect of race/ethnicity and gender on hypertension risk trajectories, consistent with both an intersectionality perspective and persistent inequality hypothesis. Group differences in past and contemporaneous socioeconomic and behavioral factors did not explain this effect. Highlights ? Race/ethnicity and gender have multiplicative impacts on hypertension risk. ? Results are largely consistent with intersectionality hypotheses. ? Additive approaches obscure substantively and theoretically important findings. ? Multiplicative impacts of race/ethnicity and gender are stable across age. ? Findings underscore the utility of intersectionality and life course approaches.
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