Overview

Guest Editors:

Gary Dowsett
La Trobe University

Victor Minichiello
University of New England

John Scott
University of New England

It still surprises those of us working on men's issues that it has taken so long to realise - and that there is so little real grassroots support and advocacy for - men's health as a legitimate domain in public health.

 In May 2010, the Australian Government launched a long-awaited national men's health strategy, entitled (somewhat tweely) the National Male Health Strategy: Building on the Strengths of Australian Males (Commonwealth of Australia 2010). It was long awaited because work had first started well over 15 years ago during the Keating Labor Party administration under its then Federal Health Minister Dr Carmen Lawrence. That naming dampens the long debate over any challenge to women's health and its funding, and now allows particular men's health concerns to gain some air time, e.g., prostate cancer, drug and alcohol misuse, risk behaviours in the workplace, etc. It also has allowed issues relegated to the margins and treated as somewhat dismissive (for some), such as erectile dysfunction, to find a place beyond a smirk or wink. The headway made on this particular issue is, however, undercut by the federal government's refusal to date to add treatments for erectile dysfunction (e.g., Viagra, Cialis, etc.) to the national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, thereby providing more affordable assistance to men with such problems arising from prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

This lack reflects a somewhat unconcerned approach by government to Australian men's sexuality and sexual health needs. Indeed, the new national strategy barely mentions sexual health at all (reproductive health gets a Guernsey) and sexuality loses out as a problematic through which a number of concerns about men and their sexual behaviour and attitudes might better be addressed. Also, the fact that the strategy makes no links with the five national HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, Sexually Transmissible Infections, and Indigenous Sexual Health strategies not only reveals poor policy thinking, but a predilection to keep the sexual out of focus.

The fields of men's studies and masculinity theory now face this very same problem, and the theoretical tools that these fields use must develop faster if they are to handle, encompass, interrogate and understand the phenomena that will need to be addressed within the emerging and enlarging discourse of men's health. A few examples will suffice: how can 'blokey' men's health ambassadors be of much use in assisting transwomen with prostate cancer; how will we deal with the emerging evidence of female- perpetrated domestic violence against men; what are the longer-term health consequences of the increasing commodification of men's bodies by the cosmeceutical industry, the fashion industry (with size 0 young men on catwalks), and the sex and pornography industries; what are we to do with the increasing evidence of the far more widespread and long-term effects of war on men's mental health and their lives after service?

We believe the men's health agenda is not yet ready for all this and more; but as the papers in this Special Issue of Health Sociology Review reveal, things are moving ahead. We hope that the trend toward policy strategies focused on men's health might open at least some of the way forward for more progress toward producing really useful knowledge about men.

Clearly, the research agenda on men's health is on the move as new issues emerge and old problems are recast within the framework and policy settings that men's health provides. This Special Issue heralds the way forward.

REVIEW

CampusDaily.com.au Tuesday May 03, 2011

New publication reflects strengthening focus on men's health

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A special issue of a leading academic sociology journal, Health Sociology Review (HSR), indicates that much work will be required to significantly improve the health and wellbeing of men in Western society.

The special issue of HSR on men's health will be launched in Melbourne tomorrow [Wednesday 4 May] by the Federal Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt. The nine research papers in the issue, by international experts from Australia, Canada, the United States and Ireland, cover topics such as male body image and identity, suicide by mass murder, masculinity and depression, and boys' health literacy.

In their introductory essay, the editors of the special issue - Dr John Scott and Professor Victor Minichiello from the University of New England and Professor Gary Dowsett from La Trobe University - say that the research papers 'reveal how men's health is intrinsically interwoven with the concept of masculinity'. (The essay - 'Growing men's health: Broadening the conceptual and practical agenda' - can be read at: http://hsr.e-contentmanagement.com/archives/vol/19/issue/4/article/3833/growing-mens-health.)

'This means that there are huge challenges ahead of us in changing a range of alarming health statistics about men,' Professor Minichiello said. 'For example, one of the papers reveals a contradiction we face here: while there is a health policy push towards promoting self-regulating and responsible health-seeking behaviour in men, the concept of 'masculinity' is likely to produce irresponsible health practices. A lot of men and boys feel under pressure to conform to a hyper-masculine body image.'

Dr Scott mentioned some specific examples from the research papers that highlight the complex issues facing men in contemporary society. 'One of the papers shows how acts of violence such as suicide can be interpreted as expressions of power and aggression and as compensation for the humiliation caused through the perceived 'emasculation' experienced by some young men,' he said. 'Another study shows how young boys identify certain sports, physical activities and foods that are 'more for boys', and highlights the need for improving the health literacy of boys and men.'

The editors welcome the publication of the National Male Health Strategy: Building on the Strengths of Australian Males (Commonwealth of Australia, 2010). 'Clearly, the research agenda for men's health is on the move as new issues emerge and old problems are recast within the framework and policy settings that men's health provides,' they conclude.

'The recently announced longitudinal study of men's health to be funded by the Australian Government will certainly ensure that the issues are on the table for discussion for many years to come,' Professor Minichiello said. 'We desperately need a policy that will make a difference for men's health and improve men's awareness of preventable diseases and injuries, support men to take charge of their own health, and influence health-care services to provide better information and intervention programs for men.'

The 'Men's Health' special issue is Volume 19:4 (pp 401-538) of Health Sociology Review.

Source: The University Of New England http://blog.une.edu.au/news/2011/05/03/new-publication-reflects-strengthening-focus-on-mens-health/

Table of Contents

Foreword: Attention to men's health
David de Kretser AC

Editorial: Growing men's health: Broadening the conceptual and practical agenda
John Scott, Gary Dowsett, Victor Minichiello

Theorizing masculinities and men's health: A brief history with a view to practice
Genevieve Creighton, John L Oliffe

'The "buck" stops with me': Reconciling men's lay conceptualisations of responsibility for health with men's health policy
Noel Richardson

Embodying the gay self
Duane Duncan

Suicide by mass murder: Masculinity, aggrieved entitlement, and rampage school shootings
Rachel Kalish, Michael Kimmel

Masculinities and college men's depression: Recursive relationships
John L Oliffe, Mary T Kelly, Joy L Johnson, Joan L Bottorff, Ross E Gray, John S Ogrodniczuk, Paul M Galdas

The low down on the down low: Origins, risk identification and intervention
John Barnshaw, Lynn Letukas

Interviews with boys on physical activity, nutrition and health
Murray Drummond, Claire Drummond

Being the butt of the joke: Homophobic humour, male identity, and its connection to emotional and physical violence for men
Pol Dominic McCann, David Plummer, Victor Minichiello

Unclean fathers, responsible men: smoking, stigma and fatherhood
Lorraine Greaves, John L Oliffe, Pamela Ponic, Mary T Kelly, Joan L Bottorff

Afterword
Raewyn Connell

Book Reviews

Holding Men: Kanyirninpa and the health of Aboriginal men
Brian F McCoy
Reviewed by Peter Willis

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday 3 May 2011 - www.latrobe.edu.au/news

Alert: Special issue launch addresses men's health

A special issue of Health Sociology Review will be launched on Wednesday 4 May by Greens MP Adam Bandt. The academic peer-reviewed journal focuses on men's health and was co-edited by Professor Gary Dowsett, Deputy Director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University.

'We are addressing a vital issue with this special issue. Last year the Australian Government released its first federal 'National Male Health Strategy', and Victoria followed with its own Men's Health Strategy discussion paper,' says Professor Dowsett.

Associate Professor John Scott and Professor Victor Minichiello, both from the University of New England, also co edited the special issue. All three editors hope that the journal will push policy development, generate more research funds, and increase attention to the various health issues men face in particular.

Nine articles complete this issue of the Health Sociology Review from countries including the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia. The topics range from smoking and fatherhood, gay men's bodies, risky sexual behaviour and HIV/AIDS and bullying and authors include ARCSHS's Research Officer Dr Duane Duncan's article: Embodying the gay self: Body image, reflexivity and embodied identity.

The new men's health strategies aim to promote male awareness of preventable diseases and injuries, and support men and boys to take charge of and act to improve their health. However it is important that all aspects of men's health are addressed, says Professor Dowsett.

'The men's health agenda is not yet ready for all this and more; but as the papers in this special issue of Health Sociology Review reveal, things are moving ahead and the trend toward policy strategies focused on men's health might lead to more progress toward producing really useful knowledge about men,' he says.

ENDS

Media Opportunity

What: Launch of Health Sociology Review special issue on Men's Health Vol 19, Issue 4 Edited by

Associate Professor John Scott (UNE), Professor Gary Dowsett (La Trobe University),Professor Victor Minichiello (UNE) 

Venue: Melbourne Conference Rooms Room 303, Level 3, 123 Queen Street, Melbourne

When: Wednesday 4 May 2pm

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Meghan Lodwick

La Trobe University Communications Officer

T: 03 9479 5353 M: 0418 495 941 E: M.Lodwick@latrobe.edu.au