IntroductionProstate cancer (PCa) treatments are associated with a high incidence of erectile dysfunction (ED). Interventions to help men with iatrogenic ED have largely focused on penile tumescence adequate for vaginal penetration. Less research has been undertaken on sex practices other than penile/vaginal intercourse.AimThe aim of this study was to explore forms of sexual practice engaged in by men following treatment for PCa. We focused in particular on anal intercourse (AI) as practiced by both nonheterosexual (i.e., gay-identified men and other men who have sex with men) and heterosexual men. We sought to determine how common AI was subsequent to PCa treatment and how flexible AI practitioners were in their modes (e.g., from insertive to receptive) when faced with iatrogenic ED.MethodsAn international online survey was conducted in 2010–2011 of men treated for PCa, where participants (N = 558) were asked explicitly about their sexual practices before and after PCa treatment.Main Outcome MeasuresThe outcome measures were the numbers and percentages of men who practiced AI before and after PCa treatment as well as the percentage who changed AI practice after PCa treatment.ResultsFive hundred twenty-six men (90 nonheterosexual men; 436 heterosexual men) answered questions on AI practices. A proportion of nonheterosexual (47%) and heterosexual men (7%) practiced AI following PCa treatment, and did so in all modes (insertive, receptive, and “versatile”). Many nonheterosexual men continued to be sexually active in the face of iatrogenic ED by shifting from the insertive to receptive modes. A few men, both heterosexual and nonheterosexual, adopted AI for the first time post-PCa treatment.ConclusionsFlexibility in sexual practice is possible for some men, both nonheterosexual and heterosexual, in the face of iatrogenic ED. Advising PCa patients of the possibilities of sexual strategies that include AI may help them in reestablishing a sex life that is not erection dependent. Dowsett GW, Lyons A, Duncan D, and Wassersug RJ. Flexibility in men's sexual practices in response to iatrogenic erectile dysfunction after prostate cancer treatment. Sex Med 2014;2:115–120.
Estimates of the proportion of HIV infections coming from within regular sexual relationships among gay and bisexual men (GBM) vary widely. Research surveys use various partner type categories, but there is little understanding of how men classify their partners. We conducted an online cross-sectional survey of Australian GBM exploring sexual relationships, including 2057 men reporting on 2566 regular partnerships. Just over half of the partnerships were considered 'relationships', while the remainder were non-romantic 'fuckbuddy'-style arrangements. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with considering the partnership a 'relationship' were: using a 'romantic' descriptor, partnership length, monogamous agreements, any condomless anal sex with each other, love, and commitment. The category of 'regular partner' can mask diverse partnership types, which have different meanings to GBM, associated behaviours, and HIV risks. Certain HIV prevention techniques may be more suited to particular types of partnerships. 'Fuckbuddy' arrangements need to be more explicitly acknowledged in HIV prevention.
This review article provides a thematic synthesis and overview of 30 years of research into the study of men and masculinity in men's magazines. Over 100 articles, book chapters, and books were reviewed to explore how scholars have approached the study of masculinity in such magazines and identify four major areas of inquiry: the commodification of masculinity; the relationship between sexism and misogyny in men's magazines and men's attitudes towards women; the vulnerability of men to, and the role of magazines in the construction of, men's body image anxieties; and the increasing sexualisation of men's bodies. The strengths and potential limitations of these four thematic approaches are identified, including an insufficiently nuanced account of the ways in which men might actually engage with images and ideas about masculinity in such magazines; an overly singular view of male sexuality that naturalises sexist and predatory behaviour; and an overemphasis on men's bodies as sites of vulnerability, risk, or crisis at the expense of more substantive considerations of the relationship between the representation of body modification practices and technologies, and men's embodied identities. The review concludes with an overview of the present field and some suggestions for future research.
Research on gay men's relationships has neglected monogamy. Instead, it has tended to (a) emphasize HIV risk and relationship agreements between partners regarding sex and condom use with outside partners or (b) focus on nonmonogamous relationships as emblematic of relationship innovation. On the basis of qualitative interviews with 36 gay Australian men who favored a monogamous relationship as ideal, this article explores the meaning and practice of monogamy and its association with HIV risk. The authors present themes that include men's use of condoms in monogamous relationships, expectations of fidelity, and understandings of trust and security as the basis to meaningful and satisfying relationships.
‘Alcohol-related violence’, especially among young people participating in the night-time economy (NTE), has been the subject of intense public and policy debate in Australia. Previous sociological work has highlighted the relationship between men, masculinities and violence, but this relationship has received little attention in the research that tends to garner policy attention. In this article, we focus on the treatment of gender in Australian quantitative research on alcohol and violence in the NTE. We identify four ‘gendering practices’ through which such research genders alcohol and violence: de-gendering alcohol and violence through obscuring gender differences; displacing men and masculinities via a focus on environmental, geographical and temporal factors; rendering gender invisible via methodological considerations; and addressing gender in limited ways. We argue that these research practices and the policy recommendations that flow from them reproduce normative understandings of alcohol effects and lend support to gendered forms of power.
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