Understanding Of Men Research Articles

The Dignity of Nonworking Men*

AbstractStudies have demonstrated the centrality of work and dignity in men's understanding of themselves and their place in society, especially in rural areas. However, previous studies of work and identity among men have generally drawn from the perspectives of the employed. From interviews with nonmetro prime‐age men (25–54 years old) who were out of the formal labor force (N = 61), we find that men present themselves as deserving of dignified treatment. They do so by drawing on the values of work—describing themselves as skilled, hard workers with a strong sense of personal responsibility. Ironically, this sense of self‐worth can conflict with them remaining in the formal labor force because of how they are treated and how others conduct themselves on the job. In this rural setting, hegemonic market‐based values guide men even when outside the institution of work, yet some men find they can only resolve tension between these values and the realities of employment outside the formal labor market.

Clickable Consent: How Men Who Have Sex with Men Understand and Practice Sexual Consent on Dating Apps and in Person

ABSTRACT Smartphone-based dating applications like Grindr are popular among men who have sex with men (MSM), and it is common for MSM to engage in sexual activity with other users. Despite this, there is limited research on MSM’s negotiations of consent for online sexual interactions and in-person sexual encounters. This study examined MSM’s understandings and practices of consent on dating apps and in person. Interpretative phenomenological analysis of 25 interviews with MSM dating app users revealed that many participants could identify key aspects of consent but did not always apply those understandings to their own practices. For online sexual interactions, some participants viewed consent as connecting to a dating app – a practice I term “clickable consent” – while other participants viewed consent as continuous and communicated consent in explicit and implicit ways. Although all participants negotiated consent online in preparation for an in-person sexual encounter, some renegotiated consent in person with explicit or non-explicit communication, while others did not renegotiate consent in person. Results shed light on how MSM’s online conversations impact their in-app and in-person sexual activities, and reveal challenges that MSM face in digital and physical spaces. Conclusions, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed further.

Male perceptions of post-abortion care in Karachi, Pakistan

Background/Aims The high maternal mortality in Pakistan stems from pregnancy- or abortion-related complications. Pakistan's patriarchal society, where men are key decision-makers, makes it necessary to involve men in maternal and child reproductive health care initiatives. This study aimed to understand men's perceptions of post-abortion care in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods A descriptive qualitative exploratory research design was used. Data were collected from 10 participants through in-depth interviews, and were analysed thematically. Results The themes were ‘men's understanding of post-abortion care’, ‘barriers to post-abortion care’ and ‘men's role in enhancing postabortion care practices: a missing link’. The participants believed that abortion was allowed only on medical grounds, and that most women could not use post-abortion care services because of the associated cost. Conclusions Men are key decision-makers in Pakistan. There is a need to educate and provide men with adequate information on post-abortion care. Male health workers should be recruited in the community. Stakeholders should ensure the availability and accessibility of post-abortion care services in the public health setting so women can receive care in a timely manner.

"No One Cares In The City": How Young People's Gendered Perceptions Of The Country And The City Shape Their Educational Decision Making

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of a group of young rural men's and women's understandings of 'the city' and 'the country'and the relationship between this and their educational decision making. The analysis adds to a growing body of literature on young rural people's experiences and the emerging research on education in a rural context. Drawing on participant observation and interviews with a group of Grade 10 students in a rural Tasmanian high school, I argue that the everyday life of the young respondents is characterised by a high degree of ambivalence towards urban living which sits at the heart of their educational choices. They depicted living in a small rural town as involving a daily trade-off between a welcome familiarity and a problematic lack of privacy. Their perception of the city was that this relationship would be reversed, and that while they might be free from the constraint of everyone knowing your business, they would struggle to negotiate the alien environment. Using Simmel's (1950) ideas on how rural and urban environments produce different worldviews as well as Bourdieu's (1990) concept of habitus, this analysis captures this ambivalence and the sense of risk involved in exchanging the known difficulties of the town for the unknown risks of the city. This sense of the city as 'too risky' informed many of the participants' decisions to 'not make a choice' and remain in their familiar environment rather than moving to the city to continue their education and risk failure. The analysis also draws on Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital and Connell's (2005) theory of hegemonic masculinity to emphasise that although the young people shared common experiences, these were mediated by aspects of cultural knowledge and gender relations.

Men's help-seeking and engagement with general practice: An integrative review.

AimTo critically synthesize the literature that describes men's help‐seeking and engagement with general practice.DesignIntegrative literature review.Data sourcesCINAHL plus, Medline and APA PsycInfo were searched for papers published between 1999 and March 2021.Review methodsAfter screening titles and abstracts, full‐text papers were screened against inclusion / exclusion criteria. All included papers were assessed for methodological quality. Findings were extracted, critically examined and synthesized into themes.ResultsTwenty studies met the inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis revealed four themes related to; (1) structural barriers, (2) internal barriers, (3) men's understanding of the role of general practice, and (4) self‐care and help‐seeking. The findings indicate that men can find general practice unwelcoming and unaccommodating. Men can also experience psychological barriers that impact engagement and help‐seeking. Men predominantly view general practice as a source of acute health care and do not appreciate the role of general practice in preventive health care and advice.ConclusionThis review has provided insight into the issues around the barriers to health care engagement, men's understanding of the role of general practice and their associated help‐seeking. Seeking to further understand these issues could assist in the development of strategies to promote engagement of men with general practice health care.ImpactThis review highlights research about men's engagement with general practice and the missed opportunities in receiving preventive health care and education.Enhancing men's engagement with general practice has the potential to reduce the impact of their health on quality of life and improve health outcomes.

‘The Lay Gaze’—Rural Norwegian men’s assessment of others’ health based on pictures

In this article, we explore lay men's understanding of the relationship between other's bodily appearance and health-'the Lay Gaze'. We applied the theoretical concepts of biopower, medical gaze, bodyism and healthism-the ideology where one feature is that a slim body is equivalent to a healthy body-and interviewed 18 adult and elderly men in rural Norway, representing a heterogeneous group regarding age, ethnicity and education. To explore the interviewees' subjective perception or 'gaze', the interviewees were presented with eight pictures of different people. Our main findings were, first, that the sample of a relatively heterogeneous group of adult and elderly lay men in rural Norway talk similarly about body appearance and health and follow the healthism discourse with an embedded association between body appearance and health assessment. Second, we found some variation regarding how interviewees define other standards for the elderly and black people.

Men's experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in Sierra Leone: Reexamining definitions of "male partner involvement".

In recent decades, global health researchers and policy makers have advocated for men's increased involvement in pregnancy and childbirth with the goal of improving maternal health outcomes. By "involvement," these actors generally refer to narrow-largely Western-definitions of participation: accompanying women to antenatal and postpartum care visits, engaging in childbirth education, or being present during delivery. However, such approaches often fail to account for the culturally valid and gendered ways in which men already are involved in supporting women's reproductive health. This study is based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and life histories conducted among 106 fathers in eastern Sierra Leone over the course of 2013-2016. Findings demonstrate that in Sierra Leone, where pregnancy and childbirth are considered to belong to the domain of women, men's primary role is to supply the material resources for a safe and healthy birth: a nutritious diet, transportation to healthcare facilities, medicines and supplies in the case of emergency, and the items to wash and dress the baby. While evidence suggests that gender norms are shifting to include other forms of intimate and emotional involvement, it is important to recognize existing forms of material support as valuable and essential forms of care. By restricting male involvement to biomedical notions of care, global health programs and policies risk discounting other types of socially meaningful support. Rather than disparaging young, African men for falling short of what Western organizations and researchers perceive to be "correct" behaviors, this paper attempts to highlight men's own understandings of involvement, so as to provide a more complete picture of the gendered nature of reproductive health in this context.

Academic makerspaces as a “design journey”: developing a learning model for how women students tap into their “toolbox of design”

AbstractAn academic makerspace, home to tools and people dedicated to facilitating and inspiring a making culture, is characterized by openness, creativity, learning, design, and community. This nontraditional learning environment has found an immense increase in popularity and investment in the last decade. Further, makerspaces have been shown to be highly gendered, privileging men's and masculine understandings of making. The spike in popularity warrants deeper analysis, examining the value of these spaces for women and if learning is occurring in these spaces, specifically at higher education institutions. We implemented a phenomenologically based interviewing process to capture the making experiences of 20 women students, recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. By eliciting the narratives of women students, we captured how making, designing, and creating evolved through gendered experiences in the university makerspace. Each interview was transcribed and resulted in around 868 pages of single-spaced text transcriptions. The data were analyzed through multiple cycles of open and axial coding for common themes and patterns, where makerspaces create a culture of learning, facilitate students’ design journey, and form a laboratory for creativity. These themes forwarded the creation of a learning model that showcases how design and learning interact in the makerspace. This work demonstrates that women students are engaging learning and inspiration; developing confidence and resilience; and learning how to work with others and collaborate.

Circumcised men's perceptions, understanding and experiences of voluntary medical male circumcision in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

BackgroundKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has rolled out voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in response to recommendations that regions with a high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence adopt VMMC as an additional HIV prevention strategy. There is a paucity of South African data on the motivators, barriers and experiences of adult male candidates regarding VMMC. This study was conducted to analyse circumcised men’s perceptions, understanding and experiences of VMMC in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.MethodsA qualitative phenomenographic design was used. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (BE 627/18). Data were collected from 12 circumcised male candidates. Individual interviews were conducted and recorded by using an audiotape. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed manually.ResultsParticipants’ perceptions regarding VMMC are health related and appear to be the motivators for the uptake of medical circumcision. Circumcised men in this study appeared to misunderstand VMMC in terms of healing and performance time and the nature of the procedure. Negative experiences in terms of quality of care received were reported.ConclusionThe study findings imply that practice interventions to promote demand generation for VMMC in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, should incorporate the perceptions and experiences of male candidates regarding the procedure. Tailored messaging to address misunderstanding related to the nature of VMMC should also be provided. Regular in-service training on standardised VMMC implementation practices should be provided to ensure the delivery of optimum quality VMMC services.

Working-Class Men's Constructions of Help-Seeking When Feeling Depressed or Sad.

In this study, we conducted interviews with 12 working-class men employed in industrial and manual labor to identify their constructions of help-seeking in response to feeling depressed or sad. The semistructured interview format explored participant men’s understanding and reactions to depression or sadness, their experiences of depression and reluctance to seek help, and their own and others’ reactions to seeking help for feeling depressed or sad. Utilizing the consensual qualitative research methodology, four domains emerged: Concern About Threat and Stigma, Being a Man Means Not Seeking Help, Experiences of Safety and Relief, and Conditions That Reduce Threat and Stigma. The results suggest the need to account for men’s experiences of both negative influences (e.g., masculinity injunctions, stigma, and threat to manhood status), as well as adaptive influences (e.g., contexts that reduce stigma) when addressing men’s help-seeking for depression and sadness. The domains are illustrative of several theoretical frameworks including social-psychological models of social norms and stigma, precarious manhood theory, inclusive masculinity theory, as well as convergence with other research examining working-class men. Implications are discussed for outreach and practice addressing men’s depression and help-seeking.

MATE Survey: Men’s Attitudes Toward Menopause and Their Role in Partner’s Menopause Transition [18OP

INTRODUCTION: Men's perceptions about menopause are largely unknown. This survey characterized men's understanding and knowledge of their partner's menopause transition and key symptoms. METHODS: A 35-question, online survey was sent to men recruited from the Cint online research exchange. Men were eligible if their female partner (45-64 y) experienced â≥1 symptom(s): hot flashes, night sweats, sleepless nights, difficulty sleeping, low libido, mood swings, pain during sex, or vaginal dryness. Couples could live together full time or separately, but reside together often. RESULTS: Of 1356 surveys sent, 450 were completed (33% response rate). The majority of men were between 50 and 59 years (51%), married (90%), and were in their relationship more than 20 years (62%). Men were able to recognize their partners experienced sleepless nights/difficulty sleeping (54%), tiredness/lack of energy (48%), low libido/less desire for sexual contact (47%), mood swings (47%), and hot flashes (46%). Men attributed symptoms to menopause (55%) and associated menopause with physiological changes (53%). Men reported menopausal symptoms negatively impacted them (76%), their partner (70%), and relationship (55%). Men engaged with their partner (72%) in a predominately positive manner (85%) regarding menopausal symptoms and tried to be supportive (31%). While less than half were aware of treatment options (47%), men believed they were very/somewhat influential (74%) in their partner's seeking treatment and lifestyle modifications. CONCLUSION: Men are aware of the menopause transition and willing to discuss symptoms. As men may influence decisions relating to management, educating them about menopause and available treatment options should be part of menopausal care strategies.

Critical insights on the demographic concept of “birth spacing”: locating Nef in family well-being, bodies, and relationships in Senegal

Birth spacing has emerged since the early 1980s as a key concept to improve maternal and child health, triggering interest in birth spacing practices in low-income countries, and drawing attention to prevailing norms in favour of long birth intervals in West Africa. In Senegal, the Wolof concept of Nef, which means having children too closely spaced in time, is morally condemned and connotes a resulting series of negative implications for family well-being. While Nef and “birth spacing” intersect in key ways, including acknowledging the health benefits of longer birth intervals, they are not translations of each other, for each is embedded in distinct broader cultural and political assumptions about social relations. Most notably, proponents of the demographic concept of birth spacing assume that the practice of using contraception after childbearing to postpone births could contribute to “empowering” women socially. In Senegal, by contrast, preventing Nef (or short birth intervals) is also viewed as strengthening family well-being by allowing women to care more fully for their family. This paper draws on policy documents and interviews to explore women's and men's understanding of Nef, and in turn critically reflect on the demographic concept of birth spacing. Our findings reinforce the relevance of the concept of birth spacing to engage with women and men around family planning services in Senegal. Accounts of the Nef taboo in Senegal also show that social norms stigmatising short birth intervals can legitimise constraints faced by women on control of their body.

Procreative consciousness in a global market: gay men's paths to surrogacy in the USA.

This article explores one of the contemporary contexts of reproductive decision-making: gay men's paths to surrogacy within the globalised USA fertility industry. The stories collected from qualitative interviews and ethnographic research with 37 gay men from several countries in Europe and the USA, who all had children through surrogacy in the USA, show that the men's understandings of their own reproductive aspirations and opportunities changed over time, as if recovering the fertility that was lost by coming out. This shift in the men's procreative consciousness – i.e. in their awareness of being subjects that could reproduce (or not) – disrupts the heteronormative idea that to be queer is not to contribute to the reproduction of the species, the family and the nation. Alongside this consciousness shift, however, reproductive decision-making of the gay men in this study was contingent on multiple factors: access to the fertility industry; economics, given how expensive and thus stratified surrogacy is; social support in the men's communities and extended families; their emotions and values. Therefore these gay men's reproductive decision-making could be characterized in terms of reproductive contingency and consciousness change, within which the globalised fertility industry was one relevant element among the choreography of multiple factors. These findings evidence that despite naturalization of reproduction as an obvious or ‘natural’ event in life, it is contingent, anything but obvious, and its perceptions are changeable. Reproduction is achieved not merely as a result of rational decision-making but rather in the interplay with an array of factors.

‘I don't want to be, feel old’: older Canadian men's perceptions and experiences of physical activity

AbstractRelatively few older adults are physically active despite extensive research exploring barriers and facilitators and concomitant interventions designed to enhance participation rates. Building on the growing literature that considers the subjective experience of being physically active, we explored the meanings that older Canadian men attributed to physical activity broadly defined. Thus, we examined their experiences and perceptions of exercise, sport and/or leisure-time physical activities. Data are presented from qualitative interviews with 22 community-dwelling Canadian men aged 67–90. Our analysis resulted in three overarching categories that subsumed the men's understanding of physical activity. ‘I do it for my health’ described how the men stated that their primary reason for engaging in exercise was to maintain their health and body functionality so that they could age well and continue to participate in sport and leisure. ‘It feels good’ referred to the various ways that the men derived pleasure from being active, including the physical sensations, psychological benefits and social connections they derived from their participation. ‘It gets tougher’ detailed the ways that the men were finding physical activity to be increasingly difficult as a result of the onset of health problems, declining body functionality and the social realities of ageing. We discuss our findings in light of the extant literature concerning age relations, ageism, and the third and fourth ages.

"A Lightbulb Moment": Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Explore the Challenges and Opportunities for Early Engagement of Australian Men Who Use Violence in Their Relationships.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common complex social and public health problem. Interventions for IPV male perpetrators are an essential component of an early and effective response. Yet little is known about how to engage men in interventions for help-seeking. Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we explored men's perceptions of seeking help for an unhealthy relationship and how they could be supported to recognize their behavior and undertake change at an early stage. We recruited 23 men who were currently attending a men's behavior change program in Australia to take part in focus groups. These were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. The TPB concepts of behavioral beliefs, perceived control, and subjective norms were found throughout the data. Behavioral beliefs covered four subthemes: self-awareness, self-reflection and agency, the influence of others to change, and needing the right message in the right place. Perceived control was connected to these men's understandings of what it means to be a man. Subjective norms were rarely raised, but there was some indication that men's perceptions of societal norms about men as violent influenced a perceived lack of agency to change behavior. Our findings highlight the complexity of, and challenges in, engaging men who may use violence before they reach crisis point and justice intervenes. Despite this, participating men could find acceptable an appropriately developed and easy-to-access intervention that enhances recognition of behaviors and provides links to supports. Health professionals or researchers developing early interventions targeting these men need to take the engagement challenges into account.

Insights for public education provided by French media on ideas about prostate cancer - A media analysis study.

Background: This study explored the French media’s presentation of ideas and medical information about prostate cancer (PC) that may influence men’s understanding, attitudes and behavior. Methods: A qualitative media content analysis centered on PC information delivered by French professional media. The selected data were produced in the aftermath of the High Health Authority's decision in 2008 not to recommend systematic screening by prostate specific antigen(PSA) for men over 50. Source was the Media Archives of the French National Library. Content was analyzed from 15 television programs, 14 radio programs, and 55 articles from 35 popular French newspapers (online and printed, weekly and monthly) and 20 magazines. Audio content was narrated into textual form and submitted to manual coding along with the print content.Results: Television and radio content focused on the nature of PC, screening and treatment,and conveyed a gender-centric position linked to male sexuality and virility. Newspapers and magazines targeted the testing controversy, the lack of consensus among professionals, and scientific advances in screening and treatment.Conclusion: Media participation in the European testing debate is valuable for allowing patients to hear all opinions on PC risk factors. Debate on testing policy contributes to confusion and uncertainty regarding appropriate action.

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Awareness Among HIV-Positive Gay and Bisexual Men: A Qualitative Study.

This study explores HIV-positive gay and bisexual men's (GBM) understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the HPV vaccine. Researchers conducted 15 in-depth interviews with HIV-positive GBM between the ages of 18-30 years old. Two participants had received a single dose of the HPV vaccine. Otherwise, the majority of participants had either never heard of the HPV vaccine or they perceived it as a resource for women only. Other commonly cited barriers to getting the vaccine included lack of provider recommendation to complete the vaccine series and vaccine costs. Future provider-driven interventions should focus on increasing HPV vaccine among age-eligible HIV-positive GBM.

Role of clarity of other's feelings for dyadic coping

AbstractDyadic coping has repeatedly been associated with positive outcomes in intimate relationships. However, less is known about the prospective predictors of dyadic coping. This study investigates clarity of other's feelings (CoF) as a potential predictor of supportive dyadic coping in a longitudinal study. In a sample of 368 couples, self‐reported CoF and supportive dyadic coping perceived by the partner were assessed annually over 3 years. Results revealed that interpersonal differences in men and women's CoF are positively associated with interpersonal differences in supportive dyadic coping. Moreover, interpersonal differences in men's CoF predicted long‐term intrapersonal changes in supportive dyadic coping of both partners. Couple intervention programs might strengthen couple's dyadic coping skills by targeting men's understanding of their partner's feelings.

The influence of gender and household headship on voluntary health insurance: the case of North-West Cameroon.

Within the existing health financing literature, males are typically categorized as the household's decision-makers. While this view accurately reflects many local sociocultural realities, approximately a quarter of sub-Saharan African households are now headed by females. In light of various efforts to expand health insurance coverage in the region, it is necessary to examine whether the factors influencing voluntary health insurance enrolment are analogous across male- and female-headed households. This study sought to identify the gendered determinants of voluntary enrolment into a church-run micro health insurance scheme. A cross-sectional survey of 550 households was carried out in Bui and Donga-Mantung Divisions of North-West Cameroon in May 2016. A structured questionnaire was administered on health insurance membership, household attributes, headship characteristics and health-seeking behaviour. We assessed the influence of gender on the associations between health insurance enrolment and the explanatory variables using logistic regression. This study found that voluntary health insurance demand was influenced by involvement in social networks regardless of gender. However, in line with entrenched household roles, men's understanding of potential household health risks ultimately facilitated their enrolment decisions, while economically empowered women prioritised their direct knowledge of household health risks. Men's demand for health insurance was correlated primarily with their education level (OR = 2.238 [CI 1.228-2.552]), as well as with their socioeconomic status (OR = 2.207 [CI 1.173-4.153]), age (OR = 2.238 [CI 1.151-4.352]) and trust of the insurance provider (OR = 4.770 [CI 2.407-9.453]). Conversely, women's enrolment decision was primarily associated with their income levels (OR = 5.842 [CI 1.589-21.484]), as well as by the presence of children (OR = 3.734 [CI 1.228-11.348]). The influence of wealth on health insurance enrolment highlights the need for policymakers to subsidize health insurance schemes for vulnerable population groups. Further, it is imperative to develop sensitization campaigns that are simple and digestible to facilitate understanding of health insurance across all target groups.

Cancer through black eyes - The views of UK based black men towards cancer: A constructivist grounded theory study.

Little is known about black African (BA) and black African-Caribbean (BAC) men's views towards cancer; yet culture and acculturation can contribute to the way in which people understand, explain and develop their attitudes towards cancer. Hence, cancer prevention and early detection strategies may not be sensitive to United Kingdom (UK)-based black men's views, affecting their awareness of risk factors and early detection services. This study explored the views of UK-based BA and BAC men towards cancer. In collaboration with black community organisations based in four major cities in the UK, 25 participants were recruited using convenience and theoretical sampling methods. Data were collected using 33 semi-structured interviews, and analysed using grounded theory analytic procedures. One core category (cancer through black eyes) and seven sub-categories emerged; 'cultural views', 'religious beliefs', 'avoiding Babylon', 'alienation', 'suspicious mind', 'advertisements and information influence very little', and 'gap in service provision (bridging the gap)'. Participants' views towards cancer were linked to socially constructed perspectives, linked with cultural and religious beliefs, and shaped by what being a black male means in society. Risk factors such as smoking and obesity had different meanings and symbolisation through black eyes. There were macro- and micro-level similarities and differences between BA and BAC men. Cancer services and related public-health campaigns aimed at black men need to understand cancer through black eyes. Public health campaigns based solely on the clinical meaning of cancer are incongruent with black men's understandings of cancer, and therefore ineffective at reducing health inequality.