Inside/outside: Contours of men's everyday health care and masculinities in Denmark

Nina Nissen
2017 Medicine Anthropology Theory  
Inside/outside Contours of men's everyday health care and masculinities in Denmark Nina Nissen Keywords caring masculinity, men's health, photo interviewing, therapeutic landscapes The notion of a 'crisis in men's health' has been developing in Western societies for the past thirty years. In these settings, men have been shown to be at greater risk than women of developing all major diseases, and to be more likely than women to die from leading causes of death, yet they are reluctant to seek
more » ... ical advice (European Commission 2011). In Denmark, research has demonstrated the ways in which men 'distance' themselves from physical and emotional health needs, and there are ongoing concerns about whether healthpromotion messages are reaching men (Christensen et al. 2012; Christensen et al. 2006) . These trends are frequently explained with reference to traditional patterns of masculinity in Western societies, which are understood to include engagement in high levels of risk taking, the dismissal of health problems, and a perception that caring for one's body and health and expressing emotions are feminine (Courtenay 2000) . In these settings, the 'doing' of masculinity is generally looked upon as the undoing of men's health. Such explanations may, however, mask more complex and changing pictures of men's health care and masculinities.
doi:10.17157/mat.4.1.390 fatcat:neopoyxlm5eprfpvtohdvnnyom