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Introduction: Masculinities, discourse and men’s health

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Publication date31/10/2023
Host publicationMasculinities and Discourses of Men's Health
EditorsGavin Brookes, Małgorzata Chałupnik
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages1-23
Number of pages23
ISBN (electronic)9783031384073
ISBN (print)9783031384066
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality
PublisherPalgrave
ISSN (Print)2947-9169
ISSN (electronic)2947-9177

Abstract

In 1978, the Journal of Social Issues published an article titled, ‘Warning: The Male Sex Role May Be Dangerous to Your Health’. The author, James Harrison, had noted the ‘growing differential in life expectancy between men and women’ (1978, p. 65) in the United States (US) during the twentieth century and wanted to critically review existing research in order to understand what factors might be contributing to this trend. He identified two explanatory perspectives: a ‘biogenetic’ one and a ‘psychosocial’ one. Harrison examined the evidence for both perspectives and concluded that ‘the best available evidence confirms the psychosocial perspective that sex-role socialization accounts for the larger part of men’s shorter life expectancy’ (ibid.). In other words, societal expectations of men were found to be more harmful for their health than any ‘biogenetic’ characteristics that might be attributable to them. Fast-forward to the twenty-first century, and the disparities in life expectancy between men and women have maintained (World Health Organization, 2019).