In recent years, fathers' experiences during childbirth have attracted much research and policy interest. However, little of this work has been grounded in the first-hand accounts of men and there is a lack of theory-based research to help understand men's thoughts and practices around childbirth. This paper is based on qualitative research undertaken with first-time fathers and healthcare professionals. It draws on Connell's (1995) conceptualisation of hegemonic masculinity to explore how men construct masculine identities within the context of pregnancy and childbirth and also how healthcare professionals construct masculinity. The paper demonstrates the ways in which men can find themselves marginalised within the context of pregnancy and childbirth, but are still able to draw on identifiable markers of masculine practice which enable them to enact a masculine form congruent with dominant masculinity. It also illustrates how healthcare professionals' constructions of masculinity enable them to predict how men will behave and allow them to position men in ways that involve minimum disruption to their own practice. The paper also highlights how men's marginal status is embedded in the dynamics of the social structure, which produce and reproduce dominant masculine identities within the context of childbirth.

In recent years, much research concerning men's health has focused on men's health-related practices. While this body of research has often sought to contextualise men's health practice it has done so primarily in terms of gender not social class. The need remains therefore to link theories of masculinity and health to broader theories regarding social class and health which highlight the social and economic context of people's lives, in order to develop more complex understandings regarding the interactions between social class, gender and men's health practices. The aim of this article is to explore these interactions via a qualitative examination of the ways in which two groups of working class men living in two contrasting socio-economic areas construct masculinity and how this intertwines with their class position to impact on their health practices. This study highlights how men's conceptualisations of masculinity coupled with their class position informed their understanding of male roles and the expectations that flow from this. It shows how certain risky practices are firmly rooted in the material reality of men's lives, not simply in their gender, and how aspects of masculinity and class position intimately entwine to structure men's health seeking behaviour.

This article is based on qualitative research with men who voluntarily attended a 'dads only' parenting programme. The article explores men's motivations to attend and demonstrates some of the challenges relating to masculine identity that fathers face when seeking support regarding their children. It also highlights how aspects of masculinity may shape men's limited knowledge concerning the needs of their children and their capabilities as 'involved' fathers. The article then explores how men made sense of their changing thoughts and practices regarding fathering and fatherhood within the context of their conceptualisations of masculinity. Whilst men appeared to embrace parenting qualities more commonly associated with women they did not completely distance themselves from traditional fathering templates. Moreover, although they gained a sense of mastery over childcare, the ways in which men care for their children is inevitably context dependent and some demonstrations of involved fathering may clash with certain masculine ideals.

In the UK, nearly half of all cases of infertility involve a 'male-factor'. Yet, little empirical work has explored how men as men negotiate this terrain. Three interrelated concepts; 'hegemonic masculinity', 'embodied masculinity' and the linkages between 'masculinities' and male help-seeking, provide the theoretical framework that guided a qualitative study conducted with 22 men experiencing infertility. The paper explores men's propensity to delay their help-seeking in relation to infertility despite their desire for children. It also demonstrates how, in the context of infertility, the male body can be defined as both a failed entity in itself (unable to father a child) and a subordinated social entity (unable to measure up to hegemonic ideals) that characterises men's masculine identities. The paper also illustrates how men appear willing to accept responsibility for their infertility and adopt aspects of hitherto subordinate masculine practice. This does not, however, constitute the total unravelling of well understood and accepted expressions of masculinity. Finally, the paper demonstrates how infertility is perceived as having the potential to fracture current and even future relationships. Moreover, regardless of how well men measured up to other hegemonic ideals, ultimately they can do little to counteract the threat of other (fertile) men.