Engaging with sleep: male definitions, understandings and attitudes

Abstract

Recent literature has highlighted the sociological significance of sleep and has suggested that sleep offers a 'window' onto the gendered nature of our lives. Yet within this body of work men's sleep has been largely ignored. This paper seeks to rectify this omission and situates itself at the intersection between literature on the sociological aspects of sleep and social-constructionist-orientated writings on men's health. It draws upon qualitative data from 40 men to investigate male understandings of, and attitudes towards, sleep. At first glance, it could be suggested that men have little regard for sleep, and are prone to taking risks with their dormancy. Viewed in this way sleep becomes an instrument used in the negotiation of status and power and intrinsically bound up with the demonstration of masculinities. Yet, men's relationship with sleep is more complex than this. Amongst other things, the men within the present study were embroiled in a function/non-function dichotomy. Sleep was seen as needed for the praxis of 'father', 'worker', 'husband' and 'mate' but was also considered as something which should not get in the way of performing these roles.

Two in a bed: The influence of couple sleeping and chronotypes on relationship and sleep. An overview

“…The male perception of sleep is that sleep is important and a necessity, especially in relation to paid work. Men seem to have an understanding that their body will inform them when it is time to sleep and when their resources are used up (Meadows et al, 2008). Dittami et al (2007) reported that co-sleeping is generally more disturbing for women than for men assessed by subjective reports, but also that a mitigation through sexual contact is possible (Table 1).…”

“…However, little importance is attached to the link between couple sleeping and couple functioning. In more sociological terms, Meadows et al (2008) state that couples have their own sleep habitus by the beginning of a relationship and that conflicts arise when these do not match. Although there is plenty of psychological and medical literature on human sleep and sleep problems, sleep is mostly viewed as an individual phenomenon and couple sleep is still a neglected topic (Rosenblatt, 2006).…”

Medicalisation or customisation? Sleep, enterprise and enhancement in the 24/7 society

“…For instance, recent studies have found that long work hours (more than 48 h per week) are associated with short sleep durations (less than 6.5 h per night), particularly for women workers (Bryan, 2011), and that male workers actively negotiate the amount of time they spend sleeping in relation to the amount of work they have to get done the next day (Meadows, Arber, Venn, & Hislop, 2008). Sleep, it seems, is something which is often cut back on, being sacrificed or dismissed in order to prioritise the demands of our waking lives.…”

Gender differences in approaches to self-management of poor sleep in later life

“…Rather, men face a dilemma between showing they do not care about their health, and realising that they should care; as a result, caring for health has to be legitimized or explained in some way by men (Robertson, 2003). Indeed, in one of the few sociological explorations of men's sleep, Meadows et al (2008) showed how working age men's relationship with sleep was based on achieving a complex balance between masculine disregard for issues of health, and a need to function during the day. The men studied by 7 Meadows et al (2008) relied on their 'body' to be the informant of the need for sleep, while they made the decision as to how far sleep could be curtailed, without compromising their ability to accomplish the next day's activities.…”