The Politics of Changing Men: Masculinities and Mens Health - Finian Murray
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The Politics of Changing Men: Masculinities and Mens Health - Finian Murray IPH, Open, Conference, Belfast, Northern, Ireland, Dublin, Titanic, October, 2014, Health Public
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The Politics of Changing Men: Masculinities and Mens Health - Finian Murray
- 1. The Politics of Changing Men: Masculinites and Men’s Health Finian Murray IPH Open Conference Titanic Belfast 14th October 2014
- 2. Sex and Gender • Sex relates to biology, the dimorphic division of male and female, gender in contrast refers to the cultural meanings that are attributed to those biological differences -gender in other words is socially constructed (Stakelum, A. and Boland, J., 2001: 6).
- 5. Gender socialisation • Although social and economic roles of men and women are changing, traditional values and attitudes towards gender remain prevalent. • Boys and young men continue to be socialised to appear in control, to be strong and to take risks; thus reinforcing their exposure to illness and accidental deaths
- 7. Masculinities • Traditionally, while men were everywhere to be seen and dominant, the categories of ‘men’ were taken for granted as natural • The focus is now on masculinities, which are now seen as being created not only through power and other relations between men and women, but through relations between groups of men • RW Connell identifies the relations between and among masculinities in terms of hegemony, subordination, complicity and marginalisation
- 9. Hegemonic Masculinity • The idealised form of masculinity at a given place and time (Connell, 1995) • Today it is embodied in white, middle-class, heterosexual, highly educated, employed men • Aggressive, rational, non-emotional, competitive, combative, controlling etc. • Sporting heroes are taken as exemplars of hegemonic masculinity • Rejects what is constructed as feminine
- 10. In Munster, a ladyboy is anyone who washes his hands after a piss
- 11. Traditional gender scripts for men • "A m a n who d o e s g e nd e r c o rre c tly wo uld be re la tive ly unc o nc e rne d a bo ut his he a lth a nd we ll-be ing in g e ne ra l. He wo uld s e e him s e lf a s s tro ng e r, bo th phy s ic a lly a nd e m o tio na lly , tha n m o s t wo m e n. He wo uld think o f him s e lf a s ind e p e nd e nt, no t ne e d ing to be nurture d by o the rs . He wo uld be unlike ly to a s k o the rs fo r he lp . He wo uld s p e nd m uch tim e o ut in the wo rld a nd awa y fro m ho m e . The inte ns e a nd a c tive s tim ula tio n o f his s e ns e s wo uld be s o m e thing he wo uld c o m e to d e p e nd o n. He wo uld fa c e d a ng e r fe a rle s s ly , ta ke ris ks fre q ue ntly , a nd ha ve little c o nc e rn fo r his o wn s a fe ty "
- 12. Subordinate Masculinities • Hegemonic masculinities not only subordinate women but also other men • Gay men and the cultural stigmatisation of homosexuality ‘I remember when we were in school there was no such thing as gay issues discussed, why is it always straight stuff…it is a complete area that is causing a problem and it is not being dealt with what so ever.’ 48yr old Gay Male • Heterosexual men who do not live up to the dominant masculine cultural ideal (e.g.Billy Elliot)
- 14. Angela’s Ashes • The fourth Saturday morning Billy Campbell knocks at our door. Mrs. McCourt, can Frankie come out and play? Mam tells him, No, Billy. Frankie is going to his dancing lesson. • He waits for me at the bottom of Barrack Hill. He wants to know why I’m dancing, that everyone knows dancing is a sissy thing and I’ll wind up like Cyril Benson wearing a kilt and medals and dancing all over with girls. The next thing I’ll be sitting in the kitchen knitting socks. He says dancing will destroy me and I won’t be fit to play any kind of football, soccer, rugby or Gaelic football itself because dancing teaches you to run like a sissy and everyone will laugh. • I tell him I’m finished with dancing (Frank McCourt, 1999).
- 15. Leonard Matlovitch • When I was in the Military, they gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge for loving one
- 16. Gearoid Farrelly • The gay Comedian from Finglas, recalls a conversation his Principal had with him in secondary school • “Gearoid, you are different than the other boys” • Gearoid replies ,“Yes Sir, I know. I can read”
- 17. Complicit Masculinities • Men who can be sympathetic to women and children, live up to their family responsibilities but support status-quo • Commitment to transformation is weak • Refusal of power maintains masculine privilege • Women too can be seen to be complicit, although their circumstances and relationship to power are very different from those men who occupy and perform complicit masculinities
- 18. My whole line on metrosexuals is they’re basically men as women would have created them. As in, they’re sensitive to women’s feelings, carry bags, remember birthdays, never piss in the sink. It took women basically thousands of years to fashion this ideal man – then they discovered they didn’t actually fancy him?
- 19. Marginalised Masculinities • The interplay of gender with other structures such as class and race • It is always relative to the authorisation of the hegemonic masculinity of the dominant group • The masculinities of ethnic minorities e.g.Travellers, asylum seekers
- 20. Marginalised Masculinities • Impoverished due to limited access to cultural or economic resources “Demonstrating masculinities with fearless, high-risk behaviours may entail skydiving for an upper-class man, mountain climbing for a middle-class man, racing hot rods for a working-class man and street fighting for a poor urban man.” - Courtney
- 21. • Boxing between two men can have its less than manly moments. The two men are half-naked, wear silk shorts, and fight over a belt and a purse - John McGivern
- 22. Exit/ Transformative Politics Masculinity Politics Gay Liberation Masculinity therapy The Gun Lobby
- 23. Critique • For middle class health professionals to apportion the responsibility for aboriginal men’s high mortality to their “gender identity” or form of “masculinity” would ignore the more pertinent factors of structural oppression and social disadvantage.” (Woods, Micheal. Killing Them Subtly - Social Determinants in Men’s Health.)
- 24. Summary/Implications • Helps understand differences in health status between different groups of men • Gendered approach to health • Masculinities are defined against positive health behaviours and beliefs • We need to acknowledge and resource the diversity of men in any approach to men’s health issues.
Notes de l'éditeur
- One study analysed words used about new born babies. New born male infants were described as ‘sturdy’, handsome or tough; female infants were more often talked about as dainty, sweet or charming. Yet there was no overall size or weight difference
- Gayness is positioned at the bottom of the hierarchy of what a ‘real man’ is supposed o be, while heterosexuality is taken as the norm As Gramsci points out, the rule or hegemony of a dominant culture is never absolute. In other words, it never fully achieves the position of being the only available way of making sense of an event or situation. Instead, it has to be continually defended againsst the challenges of other subordinate cultures. Mc An Ghaill
- Concept developed by Gramsci who sought to understand how the ruling (capitalist) class engineers consent to its rule among the mass population Achieved by the diffusion of the dominant ideology through social institutions such as religion, the media, education and popular culture, so that it permeates social life and becomes ‘common sense’ which is reproduced through daily experience Counter-hegemony
- It need not be the most common form of masculinity Most honoured/desired The dominant form of male behaviour in any particular milieu Mac An G Women who succeed in gaining access to the corridors of power find themselves performing masculinities that are encouraged and become further embedded in a system where power is exercised in terms of control and a struggle over knowledge Homosexuality was explained through medical and sociological models within the diseased and dysfunction concepts- Conor Fergal Rowley While other men identified what they thought to be male homosexual privilege, in that gay men were romanticised as fashionable and privy to female knowledge-ibid Hegemonic masculinities alienate women, homosexuals and non-normative masculinities while engaging itself in self-mutilation - ibid Highly instrumental, achievement-directed orientation of the education of boys in single sex secondary schools and the lack of attention to the rationality of caring EM Hegemonic masculinity constitute the implicit yardstick by which the ‘Other’ is judged White, middle-class, heterosexual, employed males are currently the norm Mac An G Definition - The configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees the dominant position of men Courtney - Today in the US hegemonic masculinity is embodied in heterosexual, highly educated, European American men of upper-class economic status The work that men do is the most dangerous work. Although they comprise only half (56%) of the US workforce – men account for nearly all (94%) fatal injuries on the job – Courtney Men are typically perceived as adventurous, aggressive, ambitious, independent, etc. whereas women tend to be construed as affectionate, dependent, emotional, fickle, meek etc. Ideology, a notoriously slippery concept but which is commonly defined as ‘knowleged in the service of power’ within discourse analytic texts – Brendan Gough
- 14 and soon to be a father. You read about these things in the likes of the Herald and you presume they’re exaggerating, just to sell papers
- The gay Comedian from Finglas, Gearoid Farrelly tells about a conversation he had with his Principal in secondary school “You are different to the other boys” Hi goes,“Yeah, I know. I can read” Hegemonic definitions are continually contested by those they subordinate Sissies wimps and ‘ear ‘oles’ Gay men’s vulnerability to HIV infection challenges society to address gay men’s sexuality as part of the mainstream health agenda An example of subordinate masculinity is Billy Elliot He told me that he had never held his young son’s hand because he thought the men on his street would think he was gay. Imagine that the conditioning had run so deep that he thought that holding his son’s hand was a sign of gayness. MOTM
- ‘Work is very rigid…we are not allowed to be more maternal…I’d love to be at home. I’d love to go down with the wee pram to the school and pick up my child. I’d love to be at home. Men Talking Definition – men who do not embody hegemonic masculinities’ but whose masculinities are constructed in ways that realise the patriarchal dividend, without the tensions of being frontline troops of patriarchy It is important to note that many women can be seen to be complicit in the maintenance of hegemonic masculinity although their circumstances and relationship to power are very different from those men who occupy and perform complicit masculinities Women who succeed in gaining access to the corridors of power find themselves performing masculinities that are encouraged and become further embedded in a system where power is exercised in terms of control and a struggle over knowledge
- Marginalised masculinities may share many features with hegemonic masculinity but are socially de-authorised. Viewed as ‘dangerous Others’, black peoples have conventionally represented some kind of uncivilised animalistic force posing a sexual threat to the white moral order Marginalised men may also attempt to compensate for their subordinated status by defying hegemonic masculinity and construction alternative forms of masculinity – Courtney The claim to power that is central in hegemonic masculinity is constantly negated Inner-city gang members, who are constructing an alternative yet still authoritative and dominant form of masculinity Situational or interpersonal hegemony reflects access to cultural or economic resources. Demonstrating masculinities with fearless, high-risk behaviours may entail skydiving for an upper-class man, mountain climbing for a middle-class man, racing hot rods for a working class man and street fighting for a poor urban man - Courtney
- All forms of masculinity politics involve a relationship with feminism Masculinity therapy, sometimes called “the men’s movement”, is derived from Men’s Liberation but represents a dramatic shift to the political right, which gained force in the 1980’s. It is at bottom a psychological “recovery” movement, addressed to the pain that heterosexual men feel about the uncertainties about gender. They feel unfairly blamed by feminists and some claim men are more disadvantaged than women. Point of reference is complicit masculinity and writers include Robert Bly and Sam Keen. The gun lobby explicitly pursues an anti-feminist agenda. Its point of reference is hegemonic masculinity, but it may recruit key support from marginalised masculinities. An important part is the commercial promotion of exemplary masculinities I.e. movie action hero’s, super-hero comics, violent video games, children’s plastic toy sets etc. These relentlessly insist on the bodily superiority of men and their mastery of technology and violence. Also built into the cult of the ruthless business entrepreneur, which has been given force from globalisation. Gay Liberation is a men’s movement based in the principal form of subordinated masculinity in the current Western gender order. Queer politics involves a reversal of the mainstream approach of gay politics, contesting and dismantling identities rather than affirming them as bases for community-building. Creative movement posing a cultural critique to the dismantling of hegemonic masculinity. Exit/Transformative Politics. Anti- sexist activism among straight men which has found new strength recently. Achilles Heel, Changing Men, NOMAS, White Ribbon Movement. It seeks to exit from current patriarchal structures, but it also tries to transform existing forms of masculinity. It shares many goals with gay politics but has a different underlying logic, since it involves an attempt to escape from gender identity, not to affirm one. Its arena’s are private as well as public, where men take an equal share with Kinder and Kuche if not Kirche, and women take an equal share in decision-making and control of assets.
- Differences in health status between groups of men are also of concern Men Talking Courtney – as a society, we all work diligently at maintaining constructions of women’s health as deficient, of the female body as inferior, of men’s health as ideal and of the male body as structurally efficient and superior How men view "masculinity " is often at the very heart of how they act. This is very true in the area of looking after their health. However, how women, health professionals, decision-makers etc. see masculinity will also have an impact. There should be a continuous series of programmes which explore what masculinity means and how some interpretations can have negative outcomes for men’s health.
- Life expectancy. Men die younger than women – just 66% of men reach the age of 75 compared to 77% of women. Heart disease. Men are more likely to die from coronary heart disease (CHD) and on average they develop CHD 10 to 15 years before women. Cancer. Men are almost twice as likely to develop and die from one of the ten commonest cancers which affect both men and women (excluding breast cancer, which is rare in men). For the majority of cancers, a smaller proportion of men than women survive for at least five years after diagnosis. Suicide. Men are three times more likely to kill themselves than women. The suicide rate for men over 15 in the most deprived areas is more than twice the rate for those in the least deprived areas. Illegal drugs. Men are more likely to take illegal drugs than women and the vast majority of those who die from drug misuse are male. Using health services. Men are much less likely than women to use primary health care services. Overall, men in Great Britain visit their GP four times a year compared to six times for women. There is a similar pattern for dental check-ups and using pharmacy or family planning services.