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This paper explores the intersection of gender and class concerning welfare clients with medically unexplained symptoms. The study is conducted in Denmark using qualitative interviews with welfare officers and clients. The paper's focus is on how issues of gender and class intersect in the negotiation of illness among welfare officers and clients. The particular client group in question consists of individuals that are defined by their lack of a bio-medical diagnosis. Their 'lack' of identity accentuates how gender and class become central in the categorisation practices, constructing the ill person as either bio-medically sick or as a person who may be suffering but only from diffuse psychological problems. The paper shows that it is predominantly poorly educated women without a bio-medical diagnosis that welfare officers describe as suffering from psychological problems despite the fact that the women themselves focus on physical ailments in their illness stories. Men and better-educated women are described by the welfare officers as tired and exhausted or truly stressed after a long working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how masculinity may help us understand the varying ways political leaders are responding to the coronavirus crisis. By focusing directly on masculinity as a social process, this analysis contributes to the broader literature on gender and leadership, unpacking the gendered double bind that leaders who identify as men must navigate in acknowledging and responding to risks. I examine the responses of Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump suggesting that their respective struggles to acknowledge and respond to the public health threat were not simply the result of a lack of available information to inform rational policy decisions. Acknowledging risk and taking measures to prevent rather than 'fight' are not culturally neutral, they are coded as feminine and 'weak'. Clearly, the delay in the response and subsequent spread of the virus in North America was not inevitable, other jurisdictions were able to respond more quickly. The masculinity double bind may have been one of the factors that undermined a prompt response in the increasingly macho context of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on focus groups with young Australian males across a range of social demographics and ages in primary school years (5-12 years). It investigates the role of physical activity and dietary behaviours in the lives of young males. The paper will articulate the way in which young males come to perceive physical activity and dietary behaviours, including broader constructions of health, within the context of their lives. Understanding the decision making of young males' around physical activity and dietary behaviours will play a significant role in the health outcomes of adult men by through improved targeted health education and health promotion programs for this cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies that focus on the effects of both the division of household chores and of financial contributions on the mental health of couples are scarce. This paper expands on previous research by paying attention to the variation of this relationship among three types of households: Male breadwinner, one-and-a-half-earner and dual-earner. Using paired data from the 10th wave of the Panel Study of Belgian Households, collected in 2001, we perform separate linear regressions for men (N = 1054) and women (N = 1054). The results suggest that in one-and-a-half-earner households, women's employment has a negative effect on their partner's depression level and that in dual-earner households, the effect of women's employment is only negative if men are not the major breadwinner. Crossover effects of depression between partners seem to mediate part of the aforementioned associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary health policy increasingly positions responsibility for the management of health with the individual which reflects newer neo-liberal discourses of health. Such an approach can be seen as problematic in the context of men's health, with men tending to be seen as largely 'irresponsible' towards their own health. This paper addresses this question by drawing on qualitative data on how men conceptualise responsibility for health. Whilst the desire to be responsible for health was borne by most of the men in the study, this was not always reflected in practice. There was also evidence of strategies that men adopted for either divesting themselves of responsibility for health or for legitimising lack of responsibility. In some instances, acting 'irresponsibly' was what defined participants as 'real men'. The implications of these findings for men's health policy are discussed with specific reference to the recent publication of Ireland's National Men's Health Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emphasis on a sexualised muscular body ideal in gay social and cultural settings has been described as facilitating body image dissatisfaction among gay men. Drawing on a concept of reflexive embodiment, this paper uses qualitative interviews to analyse gay men's embodiment practices in relation to discourses and norms that can be found across and beyond any coherent notion of 'gay subculture'. The findings reveal body image to be more complex than a limited focus on subculture or dissatisfaction can account for. In particular, gay men negotiate a gay pride discourse in which the muscular male body generates both social status and self-esteem, and deploy notions of everyday masculinity that imply rationality and control to resist gendered assumptions about gay men's body image relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits women's accounts of menstrual suppression and considers the value in using material feminist theory to discuss the concept of nature in this context. Whilst a sociological, poststructuralist framing of nature as discourse has been useful in challenging essentialist claims about women's bodies, I argue now that engaging with material feminism acknowledges both the material and discursive ways in which women talk about menstruation and its suppression. This article draws on qualitative data gathered in the aftermath of the approval of the first extended cycle oral contraceptive. In their narratives women struggled to unite the desire to frame their perceptions as natural whilst at the same time upholding the right to use synthetic interventions to control menstruation. Building on poststructural and embodiment theory, as well as drawing on the concept of 'naturecultures' [Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs and women: The reinvention of nature. New York: Routledge], I argue it is helpful for health sociology to incorporate material feminism in order to advance understanding of ambivalence in relation to new reproductive technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School shootings have become more common in the United States in recent years. Yet, as media portrayals of these 'rampages' shock the public, the characterisation of this violence obscures an important point: many of these crimes culminate in suicide, and they are almost universally committed by males. We examine three recent American cases, which involve suicide, to elucidate how the culture of hegemonic masculinity in the US creates a sense of aggrieved entitlement conducive to violence. This sense of entitlement simultaneously frames suicide as an appropriate, instrumental behaviour for these males to underscore their violent enactment of masculinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study into Australian manhood featured 63 men discussing 'acceptable' masculinity. Homophobic humour emerged as central to the formation of Australian male identity, but it had the potential to induce violence and emotional damage when the 'humour' moved along a malleable continuum from good-natured banter to abuse. Significantly, it was men of all sexualities who were targeted, indicating that it was non-conformity to gender norms as well as sexuality being policed, as boys and men used humour to control and humiliate each other. Recollections of these instances ranged from 'it was just a joke' for some perpetrators, to 'orchestrated cruelty' for men who had been victimised. Some of the latter group reported depression extending into their adult lives based on their youthful experiences. Understanding the impact when humour goes 'beyond a joke' is important for policy makers, educators and healthcare workers, as a potential for emotional damage and physical violence is highlighted. The study highlights the importance of understanding masculinity as an influence on men's health and wellness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex comparisons reveal men as more likely than women to die earlier and experience debilitating injury. Historically, this trend has been positioned as somewhat inevitable, an outcome of men's 'natural' biologically charged tendencies for risk-taking and reluctance around help-seeking. More recently, gender research has emerged to describe cultural norms about masculinity and explore their relationships to men's health and illness practices. Empirically, masculinities and men's health research has revealed diverse practices that suggest some men's risky health behaviours are amenable to change. This article provides a brief review of how masculinity has been understood in men's health research before making recommendations for where we might next go in theorising social constructions of masculinities. Specifically, a vignette drawn from a study examining young men's responses to the death of a peer is used to illustrate how the communities of practice framework can be applied, and might conceptually advance future masculinities and men's health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) people are choosing to parent through adoption. The minimal research available, focused particularly on lesbian and gay adoptive parents, suggests they face significant barriers to adoption (including being held to a higher standard than heterosexual adoptive parents), homophobia from child welfare professionals, and limited social support post-adoption. These issues have significant implications for the mental health of LGBTQ adoptive parents, but have not been researched to date. Seven interviews were conducted with Canadian lesbian and queer adoptive parents to examine the mental health impact of adoption and identify barriers to accessing health and social services. Adoptive parents described multiple challenges related to the adoption process and becoming a parent. Further research is needed to identify the long-term mental health effects of the stress of the adoption process on lesbian and queer parents, and their need for support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A United States sample of 166 transgender adults including 50 male-to-females (MTFs), 52 female-to-males (FTMs), and 64 genderqueers (neither completely female nor completely male), were surveyed about identity development, levels of disclosure of transgender status, and relationship to community. There was no difference among transgender groups in age of first experiencing oneself differently from assigned birth sex. MTFs first identified as other than their assigned sex earlier than FTMs. However, they did not present themselves to others in a gender-congruent way until much later than FTMs. MTFs were less likely to disclose their gender identity to their parents than were FTMs. Disclosure of assigned birth sex was more common among younger participants. There was no difference in the extent to which individuals felt connected to the transgender community. Genderqueers felt more connected to the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community than did MTFs or FTMs. Implications for health care professionals and transgender communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]