SOCIOLOGY 5115FA – Masculinities and Men’s
Health
Fall 2011
FINAL OUTLINE
Dr. P. Wakewich
Tuesdays: 2:30-5:30 p.m. ATAC 2021
Office Hours: (RB 2021)
Mon./Wed. 11:30-12:30 or by appointment
(Ph. 343-8353; email: pam.wakewich@lakeheadu.ca)
Course Description
In the past decade there has been a virtual
explosion of research and writing in the field of men’s health. A central theme
in this work has been the relationship between the social constructions of
masculinity and men’s health beliefs, practices and behaviours. More recent
work from the social sciences has shifted the paradigm from the “men behaving
badly” model of men’s health to a critical men’s health studies approach with
an emphasis on the intersections of gender, power and the broader social and
political contexts in which men negotiate their health in everyday life.
Drawing on a range of classical and contemporary readings from the social
sciences and health studies we will explore the field of critical men’s studies
as it is currently being developed here in Canada and around the globe.
Format
This course
is being offered through media streaming. On campus students are
expected to attend in person and off campus students should be online for the
duration of the class time. It is an interactive seminar class so it is
important to do assigned readings prior to class. Off campus students should
consult the CEDL assistance page (http://cedl.lakeheadu.ca/computer.php) for
information on computer requirements for the course. They will need to download
Quick Time and Java (links are provided by CEDL) so that they can view the live
video stream and participate actively in the course discussion. Course
materials, assignment guidelines, announcements, optional links and readings
will be posted on WebCT so please check the site regularly. If you have
additional materials or announcements that you think will be of interest to the
group please email them to me to be posted on the course website.
Readings
The readings are primarily e-journal articles
which can be downloaded from the LU library website. Links for additional
reports and media articles of interest will be posted on the Web CT as
assigned. Any non-electronic additional readings will be available for
photocopy on my office door (RB2021) for on campus students and mailed to off
site students.
Please ensure that you have done all of the weekly
readings and assigned prep prior to class to facilitate your active
participation and our collective learning in the seminar
Evaluation (detailed evaluation guidelines will be posted
on the course website and reviewed together in the 2nd week of
class)
Weekly participation
(active discussion of course material,
presentation of article summaries when
assigned)
25%
Critical response paper (6 pages, any two journal articles on men’s health,
due October 18) 25%
Research paper
(12 pages, due November 22)
40%
Final reflection paper
(4 pages, due December 11)
10%
Weekly
Sept. 13 –
Introductions, Organization and Overview; Why Study Men’s Health?
Sept. 20 – Mapping the Terrain I – Theorizing
Masculinities and the Genesis of Critical Men’s Health Studies
Readings: Hearn, Jeff (2004) “From Hegemonic Masculinity to the Hegemony
of Men,” Feminist Theory 5(1):49-72;
Courtenay, Will H. (2000) “Constructions of Masculinity and their Influence on
Men’s Well-Being: A Theory of Gender and Health,” Social Science & Medicine (SSM) 50:1385-1401; Lohan, Maria (2007) “How Might we Understand Men’s Health
Better? Integrating Explanations from Critical Studies on Men and Inequalities
in Health,” SSM 65:493-504.
Optional Reading: Annandale, Ellen and
Elianne Riska (2009) “New
Connections: Towards a Gender-Inclusive Approach to Women’s and Men’s Health,” Current Sociology 57(2):123-133;
Sept. 27 – Public Discourses on Masculinity and Men’s
Health
Readings: Gough, Brendan, (2007) “’Real Men Don’t Diet:
An Analysis of Contemporary Newspaper Representations of Men, Food and Health,”
SSM 64:326-337; Stibbe,
Arran (2004) “Health and the Social Construction of Masculinity in Men’s Health Magazine,” Men and Masculinities 7(1):31-51; and
Clarke, Juanne and Julie Robinson (1999) “Testicular
Cancer: Medicine and Machismo in the Media (1980-94),” Health 3(3):263-282.
Oct. 4 – Masculinity, Embodiment and Health in
Everyday Life
Readings: Saltonstall, Robin (1993) “Healthy Bodies,
Social Bodies: Men’s and Women’s Concepts and Practices in Everyday Life,” SSM 36(1):7-14; Robertson, Steve, “’Not
Living Life in Too Much of an Excess’: Lay Men’s Understanding Health and
Well-Being,” Health 10(2):175-189;
and Wandel, Margareta and Gun Roos, (2006) “Age
Perceptions and Physical Activity Among Middle-Aged Men in Three Occupational
Groups,” SSM 62:3024-3034.
Oct.
11 – Rural and Working-Class Masculinities and Health
Readings: Torkington, A.M., S.
Larkins and T. Sen Gupta
(2011) “The Psychosocial Impacts of Fly-In, Fly-Out, Drive-In, Drive-Out Mining
on Mining Employees,” Australian Journal
of Rural Health, 19 :135-141; Bye, Linda M. (2009) “’How to be a Rural
Man’: Young Men’s Performances and Negotiations of Rural Masculinities,” Journal of Rural Studies 25:278-288; and
Dolan, Alan (2007) “’That’s Just the Cesspool Where they Dump all the Trash’:
Exploring Working Class Men’s Perceptions and Experences
of Social Capital and Health.” Health
11(4):475-495.
Optional Reading: Panelli,
R. et al. (2009) “De-Centring White Ruralities:
Ethnic Diversity, Racialisation and Indigenous Countrysides,” Journal of Rural Studies 25:355-364.
Oct. 18 Aboriginal Men’s Health (selected
readings to be assigned for presentation)
(Critical response paper due in class)
Bulman,
Jack and Rick Hayes (2011) “Mibbinbah and spirit healing:
fostering safe, friendly spaces for indigenous males in Australia,” International
Journal of Men's Health 10(1):6- ; McCoy, Brian F. (2006) “’If we come
together our health will be happy’: Aboriginal men seeking ways to better
health,” Australian Aboriginal Studies
2:75-;and Inuit Men’s Health Series, “Inuit Men Talking About Health,” “How Can You Improve Your Emotional Health,”
and excerpts from www.inuitwellness.ca
[links available on class Web CT and will be viewed in class]
Oct. 25 – Men’s Experiences of Help Seeking
Readings: Noone, Jack H. and
Christine Stephens (2008) “Men, masculine identities, and health care
utilisation,” Sociology of Health &
Illness 30(5):711–725; O’Brien, Rosaleen, Kate
Hunt and Graham Hart (2005) “’It’s Caveman Stuff, but that is to a Certain
Extent How Guys Operate’: Men’s Accounts of Masculinity and Help Seeking,” SSM 61:503-516; and Cushman, Mitchell
A., JoAnne L. Phillips, and Richard J. Wassersug (2010) “The language
of emasculation: implications for cancer patients,” International
Journal of Men's Health. 9(1):3-.
Nov.1
Masculinity and Reproduction in the Age of Viagra
Readings: Dudgeon, Matthew R. and Marcia C. Inhorn (2009) “Gender, Masculinity, and Reproduction:
Anthropological Perspectives,” in M. Inhorn et al., Reconceiving the Second Sex. Men, Masculinity and
Reproduction. New York:Berghahan Books, pp. 72-102; Oaks, Laury,
“Manhood and Meaning in the Marketing of the ‘Male Pill’ (2009) in Inhorn et al. Reconceiving the
Second Sex pp.139-159. [reserve readings available from Instructor]
Bring a current advertisement related to masculinity
and fertility for discussion in class
Nov. 8 – Masculinities and the Negotiation of
Fatherhood
Readings: Kirkman,
Maggie, Doreen A. Rosenthal and S. Shirley Feldman (2010) “Freeing Up the
Subject: Tension Between the Traditional Masculinity and Involved Fatherhood
Through Communication About Sexuality with Adolescents,” Culture, Health and Sexuality 3(4):391-411; Draper, Jan (2003)
“Blurring, Moving and Broken Boundaries: Men’s Encounters with the Pregnant
Body,” Sociology of Health & Illness
25(7):743-767; and Wu, Chia-Ling (2011) “Managing
Multiple Masculinities in Donor Insemination: Doctors Configuring Infertile Men
and Sperm Donors in Taiwan,” Sociology of Health & Illness 33(1):96-113.
Nov. 15
Sexualities and Health; Guest Lecture – Dr. Gerald Walton, Faculty of
Education
Readings: Namaste, Viviene, “Genderbashing.
Sexuality, Gender and the Regulation of Public Space,” in The Transgender Studies Reader [reserve reading available from
Instructor]: Rainbow Health Ontario, “Because LGBT Health Matters,”
http://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/research/policy.cfm; “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Health, CDC http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/
Nov. 22 – Global
Perspectives on Masculinities and Men’s Health
Readings: Courtenay, Will (2002) “A Global Perspective on
Men’s Health: An Editorial,” International
Journal of Men’s Health 1(1):1-8; and Wilkins, David and Erick Savoye (2009) Men’s
Health Around the World. A Review of Policy and Progress Across 11 Countries [pdf posted on Web CT]
(Research Paper due in class)
Nov. 29 – Open Topic
Dec. 4 – Review, course critique and final assignment
discussion