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Current Opinion in Psychology Apr 2023This article reviews recent research in masculinity studies, highlighting theoretical approaches and topical examinations of men's masculinity in relation to feminism.... (Review)
Review
This article reviews recent research in masculinity studies, highlighting theoretical approaches and topical examinations of men's masculinity in relation to feminism. It shows a historical shift from masculinity making to categorical interests of men. The first examines journals explicitly aligned with critical feminism, where men are viewed as the cause of women's harm. Journals only broadly aligned with feminism examine men with more variance, considering both privilege and harm. Journals not explicitly aligned with feminism make room for problems that men face, and how masculinity is shifting to be less problematic.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Masculinity; Feminism; Fellowships and Scholarships
PubMed: 37209624
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101583 -
Health Sociology Review : the Journal... Jul 2021Although vasectomy is a safe and highly effective method of contraception, uptake is variable globally, with scope for increased engagement in high income nations. Very... (Review)
Review
Although vasectomy is a safe and highly effective method of contraception, uptake is variable globally, with scope for increased engagement in high income nations. Very little qualitative research has been published in recent years to explore men's perspectives on vasectomy, which represents a key opportunity to better understand and strengthen men's contribution to reproductive and contraception equality. This paper takes a scoping review approach to identify key findings from the small but important body of qualitative literature. Recent masculinities research argues that, despite some expansion in ways of being masculine, an underpinning ethos of dominance remains. Extant research on men's attitudes to vasectomy supports this ambivalent picture, indicating that while there are extending repertoires of masculinity for men to draw on in making sense of vasectomy, many remain underpinned by masculinist narratives. There remains scope for education and health promotion ensuring vasectomy is viewed as a suitable and safe option by more men of reproductive age. Increased uptake of vasectomy may also help shift the longstanding social expectation that women take primary responsibility for contraceptive practices, challenging gender discourses on contraception.
Topics: Contraception; Female; Humans; Male; Masculinity; Men; Qualitative Research; Vasectomy
PubMed: 34018906
DOI: 10.1080/14461242.2020.1789486 -
International Journal For Equity in... Jul 2023Gender-transformative health interventions that involve men and boys are gaining global reach, adaptability to specific geographical, population and epidemiological...
Gender-transformative health interventions that involve men and boys are gaining global reach, adaptability to specific geographical, population and epidemiological contexts, public endorsement, and conceptual sophistication. However, the ways in which masculinities are conceptualised and operationalised in theory and practice across these interventions remains unclear. The purpose of this scoping review is to map intervention studies that conceptually grapple with masculinities and analyse: a) how the concept of masculinities is adapted and operationalised in gender-transformative interventions, with respect to intervention population and context, b) what the relationship between the concept of masculinities and its wider theoretical embedding is, and c) on which levels transformation can be observed when working with 'masculinities'.We conducted a search in APA Psych Articles, APA PsycINFO, and CINAHL via EBSCO, MedLine, PubMed, and Web of Sciences (December 2021) looking for peer-reviewed studies on gender-transformative health interventions which engaged with masculinities conceptually. There were no restrictions regarding language, publication date, or geography. Forty-two articles were included in this review. Our abductive analysis finds that 'hegemonic masculinities' is a central concept in almost all included studies. This shows how the concept is adaptable to a range of different intervention contexts. The review further identifies five theoretical approaches, that help operationalise masculinities on an analytical level: feminist framework, affect theory, critical pedagogy, theories of social change, and ecological approaches. Lastly, this review draws out six levels on which transformation can be observed in the intervention outcomes: relational level, symbolic level, material level, affective level, cognitive-behavioural level, and community-structural level. The discussion underlines that processes and practices of (gender) transformation also require engagement with theories of transformation more widely and advocates for theoretical pluralism. Lastly, implications for practice, including preventative, ecological and community-based care models, are drawn out.
Topics: Male; Humans; Masculinity; Men; Social Change
PubMed: 37501204
DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-01955-x -
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic... Jun 2023Emergent erotic desire, it is proposed, becomes represented in the mind and body through identification with caregivers as subjects of desire. Here the focus within...
Emergent erotic desire, it is proposed, becomes represented in the mind and body through identification with caregivers as subjects of desire. Here the focus within desire is on erotic desire , both desire and the wish to be desirable particular others. Children are seen to identify with caregivers' modes of embodying erotic desire for others (including ways of moving, dressing, relating, and so on that they fantasize as expressing erotic desire for others) in order to represent, psychically and bodily, their emerging erotic desire. These identifications--have a role in representing desire for others that is comparable to the role played by gender identifications in the representation of gender. Embodiments of desire for others, it is argued, are distinguishable (momentarily) from embodiments of masculinity and femininity. These embodiments of are routinely characterized, erroneously, as masculinity or femininity by caregivers and culture, and this of desire for others as gender is traumatic to the self in its formation as a subject of desire. An extended clinical case is presented to illustrate how desire identifications might arise in the analytic dyad, relationally, bodily, and erotically in the transference-countertransference.
Topics: Child; Female; Male; Humans; Femininity; Masculinity; Countertransference
PubMed: 37671711
DOI: 10.1177/00030651231188674 -
Social Science & Medicine (1982) Jan 2022Intimate partner violence is a global problem with devastating social and health consequences to individuals and families. While some forms of intimate partner violence...
Intimate partner violence is a global problem with devastating social and health consequences to individuals and families. While some forms of intimate partner violence such as physical and sexual violence have been explored in depth, there is a lack of clarity on men's perspectives of emotional violence, particularly in low-income countries. Yet it is recognized that incorporating men's perspectives and participation is crucial for addressing intimate partner violence. We draw from in-depth interviews with 30 men and 1, 645 pictures collected through photo voice to explore men's conceptualization and experiences of emotional violence by female partners in Mwanza, Tanzania. A sub-sample of the men (n = 16) were interviewed for a second time about pictures showing different aspects of their lives. The fieldwork was conducted between April and December 2019, and the data were analyzed through a multistage inductive process. Participants described emotional violence through a narrative of 'being hurt' by some actions or words of their partners. These included: verbal complaints about failure to provide for family, partner's infidelity and flirting with other men, accusation of poor sexual performance, and perceived normative deviance characterized by coming home late and not carrying out domestic chores. Threatened masculinities drawing from negative communal normative ideals, and the underlying interpersonal power struggles with their partners for the control of economic provision, sexual intimacy and family matters framed men's definitions of emotional violence. Ongoing changes such as women's ownership and engagement in economic activities and the scarcity of employment opportunities for men challenges their household dominance. Multicomponent interventions should target men, couples and communal ideals reinforcing negative masculinity. Analysis of interpersonal power and structural dynamics influencing relationships must inform the design of interventions instead of the narrow focus on individual demographic attributes.
Topics: Concept Formation; Emotional Abuse; Female; Humans; Intimate Partner Violence; Male; Masculinity; Sexual Partners; Tanzania
PubMed: 34861570
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114606 -
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health Jun 2022
Topics: Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Virilism
PubMed: 34651366
DOI: 10.1111/jpc.15753 -
Clinical Pediatrics Sep 2023
Topics: Female; Humans; Virilism; Puberty; Puberty, Precocious
PubMed: 36797848
DOI: 10.1177/00099228221146508 -
Personality and Social Psychology... Nov 2023Manhood is a precarious social status. Under perceived gender identity threat, men are disproportionately likely to enact certain stereotype-consistent responses such as... (Review)
Review
ACADEMIC ABSTRACT
Manhood is a precarious social status. Under perceived gender identity threat, men are disproportionately likely to enact certain stereotype-consistent responses such as aggression to maintain their gender status. Yet less is known regarding individual variation in men's threat responsiveness-that is, the psychological conditions under which one's masculine identity is more or less "fragile." We propose a novel model of masculine identity whereby masculine norm expectancy generates discrepancy within the self to the extent that rigid norms are internalized as obligational (actual-ought discrepancy) versus aspirational (actual-ideal discrepancy), which predict extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations to reduce these discrepancies, respectively. Under threat, then, extrinsic motivations predict externalized responses (e.g., aggression), and intrinsic motivations elicit internalized responses (e.g., anxiety, shame, self-harm). We also consider the conditions under which masculinity may be less fragile-for example, in contexts with less rigid expectations and among men who reject expectations-as pathways to mitigate adverse masculinity threat-related outcomes.
PUBLIC ABSTRACT
In many cultures, men prove their manhood by engaging in behaviors that harm themselves and others (e.g., violence, sexism, homophobia), particularly people from marginalized groups. Yet less is known about why some men are more likely than others to enact these masculinity-proving behaviors. The goal of our model is to specify certain conditions under which masculinities become "fragile" and elicit these responses when under threat. We start by describing the rigid expectations men experience-for example, that they are strong and tough. We propose that these expectations cause men to experience different forms of discrepancy within themselves that produce corresponding motivations to reduce these discrepancies. Under threat, motivations driven by others' expectations elicit outward attempts to restore masculine status (e.g., aggression), whereas motivations driven by self-ideals cause internalized responses (e.g., shame, self-harm). We conclude by discussing how to reduce these discrepancies, such as mitigating the rigidity of and encouraging men's resistance to masculinity expectations.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Masculinity; Men; Anxiety; Motivation; Shame
PubMed: 36597588
DOI: 10.1177/10888683221141176 -
Journal of Endocrinological... Feb 2022Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to autosomal recessive 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) is caused by defects in the CYP21 (CYP21A2) gene. Several mutations...
BACKGROUND
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to autosomal recessive 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OHD) is caused by defects in the CYP21 (CYP21A2) gene. Several mutations have been identified in the CYP21 (CYP21A2) gene of patients with 21-OHD. We aimed at determining the frequency of these mutations among a group of Egyptian patients and studying the genotype-phenotype correlation.
METHODS
Forty-seven patients with CAH due to 21-OHD from 42 different families diagnosed by clinical and hormonal evaluation and classified accordingly into salt wasting (SW) and simple virilizing (SV) phenotypes were enrolled. Their ages ranged between 1.78 and 18.99 years. Molecular analysis of the CYP21 (CYP21A2) gene was performed for the detection of eleven common mutations: P30L, I2 splice (I2 G), Del 8 bp E3 (G110del8nt), I172N, cluster E6 (I236N, V237E, M239K), V281L, L307 frameshift (F306 + T), Q318X, R356W, P453S, R483P by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse hybridization.
RESULTS
Disease-causing mutations were identified in 47 patients, 55.31% of them were compound heterozygous. The most frequent mutations were I2 splice (25.43%), followed by cluster E6 (16.66%) and P30L (15.78%). Two point mutations (P453S, R483P) were not identified in any patient. In the SW patients, genotypes were more compatible with their phenotypes.
CONCLUSION
Molecular characterization should be considered along with clinical and biochemical diagnosis of CAH since it could confirm the diagnosis, outline the treatment strategy and morbidity, and ensure proper genetic counseling.
Topics: Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital; Child; Cortisone; Egypt; Female; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic Testing; Humans; Infant; Male; Mutation; Patient Selection; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase; Virilism; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance; Young Adult
PubMed: 34341969
DOI: 10.1007/s40618-021-01648-8 -
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nov 2023There are growing calls to tailor counselling practices for adolescent males, a population reluctant to engage in psychological treatment despite concerning rates of... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
There are growing calls to tailor counselling practices for adolescent males, a population reluctant to engage in psychological treatment despite concerning rates of mental illness. The objective of this systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD4202125547) was to collate and synthesise recommendations for individual counselling with adolescent males (12-18 years).
METHOD
The databases Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection, PsycArticles, PsycINFO, Academic Search Complete, EBSCO eBook Collection, Wiley Science Collection, Taylor and Francis Collection and ProQuest One Academic were searched for articles published between 1995 and November 2021. The quality of evidence was assessed using the JBI critical appraisal checklists, and thematic analysis was employed to synthesise findings across the literature.
RESULTS
A total of 1625 texts were identified, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. Generated themes included (a) therapist knowledge of masculinity, gender socialisation, and male-relational styles; (b) necessity of therapists to address masculinity in the therapeutic space; and (c) customising engagement and treatment practices to appeal to adolescent males.
CONCLUSIONS
The themes highlighted the unique developmental, and sociocultural considerations practitioners should be aware of when working with young men. Through a multicultural counselling competency framework, masculinity and adolescent male identity are expressions of diverse sociocultural identities that psychological assessment and intervention should ideally be tailored to suit. The findings of the review suggest that empirical research focusing on the experiences of adolescent males receiving psychological treatment is sparse. Further research is needed to inform the development of practicable, gender-sensitive adaptions to counselling practice for young men.
Topics: Humans; Male; Adolescent; Qualitative Research; Counseling; Mental Disorders; Masculinity
PubMed: 36604844
DOI: 10.1111/camh.12633