Masculinities, Femininities, Behaviour and Health

Abstract

Using the notion that gender is performed in daily life and through daily activities, I review some of the health behaviour literature which employs ideas about masculinity and femininity. I argue that recent theorising about both masculinities (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005) and femininities (Schippers, 2007) can be extremely useful in this field. I consider two specific health behaviours in light of this theorising, namely healthy eating and drinking alcohol, and explore how and which versions of masculinities and femininities are played out, which are problematic, and what they mean for gender hegemony. I argue that across both areas (and across other health behaviours), there are three specific issues that are important and require further conceptual development and empirical work: (1) the relationality of gender; (2) masculinities and femininities as embodied; and (3) the local, contingent and intersectional nature of masculinities and femininities. This conceptual framework and the aspects of relationality, embodiment and intersectionality have important implications not only for understanding health behaviours, but for any social psychological work theorising identities and everyday social practice.

Doing gender in the context of telenursing: Analyses of authentic calls to a telenursing site in Sweden

“…[17,20] The same pattern was found also in the present study, as the majority of callers were women, and when calling for children the proportion of female callers increased. In light of gender theory, this pattern can be understood as the performance of ideal [10] or hegemonic [13] femininity as well as of hegemonic masculinity. [11,14] Calling telenurses, for oneself or for others, can be in line with ideal femininity, which is linked to attending self-care, seeking professional health care advice and performing care for others.…”

“…More- over, physical vulnerability, weakness, and compliance have been identified as features of ideal femininity. [10] Correspondingly, men can enact hegemonic masculinity through refraining from seeking healthcare, [14][15][16] in this case refraining from calling a telenurse.…”

“…Hence, gender is not a fixed reality, but something constructed by individuals and the structures of politics and economics in a society. Performance of care has been identified as one of the main characteristics of womanhood, [10] whilst the most embraced masculinity is based on dominance over women, which Connell [11] defines as "hegemonic masculinity". Hegemonic masculinity is normative rather than normal; even though few people might live up to these idealized pictures, all men are required to position themselves in relation to them.…”

Sex Differences in Health and Survival

“…These two concepts were proposed to explain why men and women behave differently based on social norms, and how these behaviors may influence health (Courtenay 2000;Lyons 2009). The greater social acceptance of men engaging in risky behaviors contributes to sex differences in health by eroding the health status of men, whereas the social control of women's behavior may protect women's health (Denton et al 2004).…”

Sex and Gender: Beyond the Binaries

“…"Risky" health behaviors have been linked to hegemonic masculinity, as masculine individuals are encouraged to be strong in the face of illness, deny ill health or "weakness," and decline health services or interventions as a means of "being tough" (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005;Lyons, 2009;Moynihan, 1998). As previously discussed, understandings and experiences of masculinity vary according to other social locations.…”