Black men's notion of masculinity leads to avoidance of health-related behaviours
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 11:42
in Psychology & Sociology
African American men could be putting their health at risk by avoiding disease screening, in the belief that the results might threaten their masculinity. Because they prove their masculinity through their sexuality and sexual performance, seeking medical advice including HIV/AIDS testing goes against their notion of masculinity. Waverly Duck, a Post Doctoral Associate from the Department of Sociology at Yale University in the US, argues that current leading theories of gender and masculinity and health behaviour models are not relevant enough to African American men and their distinctive notion of masculinity. His results are published online in Springer's Journal of African American Studies...