Elsevier

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 50, Issue 10, 16 May 2000, Pages 1385-1401
Social Science & Medicine

Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00390-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Men in the United States suffer more severe chronic conditions, have higher death rates for all 15 leading causes of death, and die nearly 7 yr younger than women. Health-related beliefs and behaviours are important contributors to these differences. Men in the United States are more likely than women to adopt beliefs and behaviours that increase their risks, and are less likely to engage in behaviours that are linked with health and longevity. In an attempt to explain these differences, this paper proposes a relational theory of men's health from a social constructionist and feminist perspective. It suggests that health-related beliefs and behaviours, like other social practices that women and men engage in, are a means for demonstrating femininities and masculinities. In examining constructions of masculinity and health within a relational context, this theory proposes that health behaviours are used in daily interactions in the social structuring of gender and power. It further proposes that the social practices that undermine men's health are often signifiers of masculinity and instruments that men use in the negotiation of social power and status. This paper explores how factors such as ethnicity, economic status, educational level, sexual orientation and social context influence the kind of masculinity that men construct and contribute to differential health risks among men in the United States. It also examines how masculinity and health are constructed in relation to femininities and to institutional structures, such as the health care system. Finally, it explores how social and institutional structures help to sustain and reproduce men's health risks and the social construction of men as the stronger sex.

Section snippets

Constructionism and theories of gender

Previous explanations of masculinity and men's health have focused primarily on the hazardous influences of “the male sex role” (Goldberg, 1976, Nathanson, 1977, Harrison, 1978, Verbrugge, 1985, Harrison et al., 1992). These explanations relied on theories of gender socialisation that have since been widely criticised (Deaux, 1984, Gerson and Peiss, 1985, Kimmel, 1986, Pleck, 1987, West and Zimmerman, 1987, Epstein, 1988, Messerschmidt, 1993, Connell, 1995). The sex role theory of

Theorising masculinity in the context of health

As Messerschmidt (1993, p. 62) notes in regard to the study of gender and crime, a comprehensive feminist theory of health must similarly include men “not by treating men as the normal subjects, but by articulating the gendered content of men's behaviour”. The following sections provide a relational analysis of men's gendered health behaviour based on constructionist and feminist theories, and examine how cultural dictates, everyday interactions and social and institutional structures help to

Conclusion

Research consistently demonstrates that women in the United States adopt healthier beliefs and personal health practices than men. A wealth of scientific data suggests that this distinction accounts in no small part for the fact that women suffer less severe chronic conditions and live nearly 7 yr longer than men. From a social constructionist perspective, this distinction can be understood as being among the many differences that women and men are expected to demonstrate.

If men want to

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the referees and James Messerschmidt for their critical review of earlier versions of the manuscript. He is especially grateful to Dr. Don Sabo and Dr. Susan Sands for their constructive comments and their continual encouragement.

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