Multidisciplinary work increasingly suggests that epidemic diseases affect women and men differently. This Element argues that if women bear a disproportionate burden during these outbreaks, we require more systematic research into the specific conditions that drive these disparities. Moving beyond a myopic focus on AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19, this Element contends that long-run historical analysis is essential for understanding how and why the effects of epidemics vary across time. Epidemics are not isolated “shocks” but recurring multilayered social processes whose consequences accumulate across generations. By examining diverse cultural and institutional contexts, future research should build a comparative framework capable of explaining variation in women's experiences across diseases, societies, and women's individual status. Although comparisons between women and men remain relevant, women are not a homogenous category. Differences in status, circumstance, and position of women shape the forms, intensities, and temporalities of epidemic impact, resulting in differentiated experiences among women themselves. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.