M8: HIMM: Health, Illness, Men and Masculinities

Question 1

HIMM: Theoretical model for understanding men and their health

What is the strongest predictor of preventative and health-promoting behaviour?

Answer 1

▫ Being a woman is the strongest predictor of preventative and health-promoting behaviour

▫ Women employ more coping strategies and are more likely to
seek social support

▫ Health-promoting behaviours are linked with femininity

▫ Risk-taking behaviours are linked with masculinity

Question 2

What are the key points under the HIMM: Theoretical model for understanding men and their health?

Answer 2

• Health research tells us that men with similar social disadvantages as women experience poorer health outcomes
• Purpose: to explore how masculinities intersect with other social determinants of health creating health disparities among men
• Explores the influence of masculinity throughout the life course
• Explains how masculinity intersects with other social determinants differently during youth, middle-age and older years
• Encourages us to consider health in the social context in which masculinity is defined and produced

Question 3

How is their Masculinity in Youth?

Answer 3

For boys and young men, physical risk is naturalized, promoted and celebrated

• ‘Take it like a man’, ‘be independent’, ‘don’t seek help’
  → long-term implications

Encouraged to demonstrate aggression, strength and risk-taking

Compared to young women, young men are…
▪ 3x more likely to die from accidental death
▪ 4x more likely to die from suicide
▪ Half as likely to seek out health care services
▪ Twice as likely to visit emergency rooms

Question 4

How is Masculinity a factor in Middle Years?

Answer 4

• During this time, men construct masculinity in relation to work and/or income
• Work defines status in masculine hierarchy
• Work involving physical labor requires men to demonstrate masculinity through stoicism & denial of body pain
• In Canada, 90% of victims of work-related accidents are men
• Men in ‘white collar’ jobs feel pressure to achieve, work long days – higher risk for stress-related conditions (e.g., high blood pressure)
• Between ages 35-50 there is a rise in depression, physical complaints, rinking. However, low acknowledgement

Question 5

How is Masculinity a factor in Later Life?

Answer 5

• As men age and illness becomes more frequent, becomes harder to sustain ‘hegemonic masculine ideals’
• Masculine identities are often linked to work/career so leaving work can pose a challenge to identity
• Location in gender ‘hierarchy’ changes

Question 6

Sample questions for using feminist theories to understand health

Why do men and women experience different health outcomes that cannot be explained by biology?

Question 7

Sample questions for using feminist theories to understand health

What traits or behaviours are considered ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ and how to they relate to healthy behaviours or healthy living?

Question 8

Sample questions for using feminist theories to understand health

How is our health system shaped by gendered stereotypes?
How does our health system reproduce gendered stereotypes?

Question 9

How are SDHs gendered?

Answer 9

• Women with lower levels of formal education and lower income were more likely than other women to smoke during pregnancy (But less drinking during pregnancy)
• Chronic disease linked to an increased maternal mortality rate
• Indigenous women most likely to experience teen pregnancy; early motherhood increases vulnerability for people who’s already disadvantaged socioec0economically
• Men more likely than women to have less than gr 9 education
• Employed men less likely than employed women to have a post-secondary degree or diploma
• Indigenous women least likely to have advanced education; lower life expectancy than other women
• Immigrant women healthier when they land, but then converges with long-term residents
• Women less likely to have employment insurance, or employment-related pensions