Negotiating masculinities at the expense of health: A qualitative study on men working in long‐term care in the Netherlands, from an intersectional perspective

Abstract

While some areas of care work show increased recruitment of men, the care‐gap remains, especially in low paid occupations. Questions arise how masculinities play a part in this, and if caring masculinities obscure gender inequities while at the same time perpetuating them. This qualitative study focusses the negotiation of hegemonic and caring masculinities of men working in residential long‐term care in the Netherlands, and its consequences for health. Semi‐structured interviews (N = 16) were analyzed thematically, drawing upon gender and intersectionality theory to understand inequities between respondents. Findings describe how men move through long‐term care. On entry, men negotiated hegemonic and caring masculinities to gain access, with black men having to work harder. Once inside, men experienced status‐loss and performed hegemonic masculinity, materializing in financial and sexual rewards, especially for white heterosexual men. In time, this performance of hegemonic masculinity backlashed with respect to their own health; herein racialized and homosexual men were hit harder. Consequently, all the men in this study aspired to move out or up from low‐paid care work, with white heterosexual men doing so more successfully. Our study illustrates the importance of an intersectional perspective on caring masculinities at work, showing how caring masculinities perpetuate male privilege for some men more than for others, creating health and labor market inequities among men. In terms of health, this study shows that gender, racism and sexual discrimination need be on the occupational health agenda.

Managers' perceptions of masculinity and racialization in Swedish nursing homes

“…This is also supported in a study by van Wees et al. (2022), who found that racialized men had to work harder to be considered as competent care workers.…”

“…Previous research suggests that this seems to be the case especially for Black men working in the care sector. This is also supported in a study by van Wees et al (2022), who found that racialized men had to work harder to be considered as competent care workers.…”

“…How could it be that the care recipients accepted some but not all men, and how come so many of the men who were not accepted were Black men in particular? As the results show, there is a risk that racialized Black men are cast aside not only due to their gender position but also because of their skin color and that they are exposed to racist comments as part of their work (van Wees et al., 2022). In line with Olasunkanmi‐Alimi et al.…”

Squeezed out: Experienced precariousness of self‐employed care workers in residential long‐term care, from an intersectional perspective

“…In this study, we included a diverse population that allowed us to understand inequities between self‐employed women in LTC. This study did not address the experiences of men working as self‐employed care workers, which were distinctly different and were thus described elsewhere (Wees et al, forthcoming) Our findings cannot be transferred to all care workers in LTC, as we explicitly aimed to pay attention to particular groups of self‐employed care workers that are currently overlooked in studies or policy papers. Our study aimed to explore experiences of low‐paid care workers, but our sample consisted for a large part of advanced nursing aides and nurses.…”

“…The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guided the reporting of the study (Tong et al, 2007). Findings from other sub‐studies are published elsewhere (Duijs et al, 2021, , submitted; Wees et al, in press).…”