Men's health: An analysis of representations of men's health in theSowetannewspaper

Abstract

Recent messages on men's health suggest a crisis in the health of men in general. Most of these present men from a hegemonic view, denoting that men are uncaring, indifferent to their healthcare needs and generally risk takers. The limit of such a conception is its uncritical reference to hegemonic masculinity, without an acknowledgement of different experiences by men. Through a content analysis of articles on men and health from the Sowetan newspaper, this article shows that representations of men in relation to health fail to account for the complex and varied practices of men with regard to their health. This representation is influenced by the contested and constantly shifting role of the media. Although the media play an important role in informing the masses, the article shows that such information is not about all men, nor is it accessible by all men. As a result of socio-economic inequalities and other significant differences among men, the presentations in these newspaper articles limit our view of men to that of a hegemonic one, with negative consequences for men's health. In conclusion, it further limits the facilitation of improving intervention for the health needs of all men.

Assessing local discourses on water in a South African newspaper

“…While this paper does not specifically address the question of the relationship between the media and government, some awareness of this complex history is useful for understanding the multiple and at times conflicting representations of government discussed below. For other analysis of the content in The Sowetan, see Cowling (2014), Serra and Burnett (2007), Danso and McDonald (2001), Khunou (2013), and Radebe (2007).…”

Shaming Fathers into Providers: Child Support and Fatherhood in the South African Media

“…Analysing contents of documents like newspapers requires qualitative procedures for assessing the significance of particular ideas or meanings in the document [33]. As a result, content analysis was used to examine the articles used in this examination, since it is the most flexible, creative and reliable for analysis of print media [17,34,35]. Content analysis is therefore, used in a way where textual interpretation is decentred to reconstruct text, uncover underlying social and historical process [36].…”

“…This is done without fully acknowledging that this is not true for all men, there are men who are saddened by not being able to be as effective in their children lives [12,13,16,20]. Fatherhood like masculinities [17] should therefore be understood as a complex phenomenon as there are many factors that contribute to its experience.…”

“…Although the media's power to influence does not necessary influence the intensity and direction of attitudes, it notwithstanding sets the agenda with regards to what is important [17]. Therefore, negative constructions of fatherhood in media messages are detrimental to positive ideas of fatherhood.…”

The Voices of Black South African Men on Renal Dialysis at a Tertiary Hospital: A Phenomenological Inquiry

“…Such a diminished sense of traditional masculinity creates shame and may lead to poor psychological adjustment ( Govender, 2012 ). Another complication may come in the form of the affected men abandoning their much needed treatment once they feel that their “manly identities” are threatened ( Chironda & Bhengu, 2016 ; Etheredge & Fabian, 2017 ; Khunou, 2013 ).…”