“I AM a Man”: Manhood, Minority Men’s Health and Health Equity

Abstract

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To consider how manhood is a key social determinant of minority men’s health.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This commentary explicates how manhood intersects with other determinants of health to shape minority men’s stress responses, health behaviors and health outcomes across the life course.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Manhood, which perpetu­ally needs to be proven, is an aspirational identity that is defined by the intersection of age, race/ethnicity and other identities. Mi­nority men seek to and successfully embody US-cultural and ethnic-specific aspects of manhood in their daily lives by engaging in behaviors that constantly reaffirm their gen­der identity through a complex internal and social calculus that varies by intra-personal characteristics and context. Manhood and health are relational constructs that highlight how the salience of masculinities are shaped by perceived and actual social norms and expectations. A life course perspective adds a framework for considering how some gendered beliefs, goals and behaviors change over time while others remain static. Three life course frameworks highlight dif­ferent mechanisms through which minority men’s life experiences and physiological and behavioral responses to gendered social norms, beliefs and expectations become embodied as premature mortality and other health outcomes over the life course.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Manhood represents an impor­tant lens to understand how minority men’s identities, goals and priorities affect their health, yet the role of manhood in minority men’s health is understudied and under­developed. To achieve health equity, it is critical to consider how manhood shapes minority men’s lives and health across the life course, and to address how man­hood affects gendered and non-gendered mechanisms and pathways that explain minority men’s health over time. <em>Ethn Dis. </em>2015;25(3):287-293.</p>

The Interdependence of African American Men's Definitions of Manhood and Health

“…Manhood is often thought of as an innate quality that is the natural result of being a biological male, but manhood is an identity that is constructed through intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships 1,2 . All men do not benefit equally from the social, economic and political benefits of being a man; many men are marginalized by race, ethnicity and class 3 .…”

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Men's Health

“…43 Given the challenges that black and Hispanic men face in achieving economic success, those who define their current or past worth and themselves by their position in the economic hierarchy may therefore face considerable stress that negatively affects their health. 6,41 Men of color, for example, earn lower levels of income than white men at every level of education, 48 and middle-class black and Hispanics have markedly lower levels of wealth than middle-class Whites. 6 While socioeconomic status is inversely related to stress for white men, as black and Hispanic men’s socioeconomic status increases they tend to endure more stress.…”

“…Understanding the mechanisms underlying Hispanic-white disparities in health is especially important as Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. Lastly, previous studies on the topic have not focused specifically on racial/ethnic inequality among older men, many of whom have experienced considerable cumulative adversity over the life course. 41,42 …”

Infecção latente por tuberculose entre pessoas com HIV/AIDS, fatores associados e progressão para doença ativa em município no Sul do Brasil

“…De fato, observa-se que as duas infecções, TB e HIV/AIDS, apresentam predominância entre o gênero masculino 34,35 , semelhantemente à prevalência da ILTB que tem sido elevada neste gênero 11,12 . Os resultados podem ser justificados devido a, frequentemente, os homens serem associados à menor adoção de ações de promoção e prevenção em saúde e, por sua parte, menor procura por serviços de saúde 36 , vindo a adoecer e até morrer por doenças como a TB e AIDS 34,35 .…”