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Try to be healthy, but don't forgo your masculinity: Deconstructing men's health discourse in the media

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  • Gough, Brendan

Abstract

The emergence of discourse around men's health has been evident now for at least 10 years across academic, policy and media texts. However, recent research has begun to question some of the assumptions presented concerning masculinity and men's health, particularly within popular media representations. The present paper builds on previous research by interrogating the construction of men's health presented in a recent special feature of a UK national newspaper (The Observer, November 27, 2005). The dataset was subjected to intensive scrutiny using techniques from discourse analysis. Several inter-related discursive patterns were identified which drew upon essentialist notions of masculinity, unquestioned differences between men and women, and constructions of men as naïve, passive and in need of dedicated help. The implications of such representations for health promotion are discussed.

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  • Gough, Brendan, 2006. "Try to be healthy, but don't forgo your masculinity: Deconstructing men's health discourse in the media," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2476-2488, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:9:p:2476-2488
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Courtenay, Will H., 2000. "Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being: a theory of gender and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(10), pages 1385-1401, May.
    2. Gannon, Kenneth & Glover, Lesley & Abel, Paul, 2004. "Masculinity, infertility, stigma and media reports," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1169-1175, September.
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    1. Mróz, Lawrence William & Chapman, Gwen E. & Oliffe, John L. & Bottorff, Joan L., 2011. "Gender relations, prostate cancer and diet: Re-inscribing hetero-normative food practices," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1499-1506, May.
    2. Esmée Hanna & Brendan Gough & Steven Markham, 2020. "Masculinities in the construction industry: A double‐edged sword for health and wellbeing?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 632-646, July.
    3. Fran Baum & Connie Musolino & Hailay Abrha Gesesew & Jennie Popay, 2021. "New Perspective on Why Women Live Longer Than Men: An Exploration of Power, Gender, Social Determinants, and Capitals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Gough, Brendan, 2007. "'Real men don't diet': An analysis of contemporary newspaper representations of men, food and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 326-337, January.
    5. Turner, Rachel A. & Szaboova, Lucy & Williams, Gwynedd, 2018. "Constraints to healthcare access among commercial fishers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 10-19.
    6. Green, Gill & Emslie, Carol & O'Neill, Dan & Hunt, Kate & Walker, Steven, 2010. "Exploring the ambiguities of masculinity in accounts of emotional distress in the military among young ex-servicemen," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1480-1488, October.

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    Men's health Masculinities Media UK;

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