Noone Jack H, Stephens Christine
Department of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand.
Sociol Health Illn. 2008 Jul;30(5):711-25. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2008.01095.x. Epub 2008 Jun 28.
Seeking medical help early is critical for recovery, yet evidence indicates that men do not utilise general practitioner services as often as women. This paper draws on Connell's (1995) theory of hegemonic masculinity to critically examine how men's under-utilisation of medical services may be influenced by the social construction of masculine identities. Interviews with seven older rural men about their help-seeking behaviour, used a movie extract and hypothetical scenarios to stimulate discussion. Transcribed data were analysed using discourse analysis, which showed that in this particular social context, the men faced a dilemma when identifying with two conflicting subject positions: the virtuous regular health care user, and the masculine infrequent user of health care services. They solved this dilemma by positioning women as frequent and trivial users of health care and themselves as legitimate users of health care. By using biomedical and morality discourses in this way the men could maintain a masculine identity whilst also identifying as virtuous users of health care services. These results support the utility of hegemonic masculinity as a theoretical basis for examining the construction and maintenance of gendered identities by highlighting the complexity of multiple masculine identities.
尽早寻求医疗帮助对康复至关重要，但有证据表明男性不像女性那样经常使用全科医生服务。本文借鉴康奈尔（1995）的霸权男性气质理论，批判性地审视男性对医疗服务利用不足可能如何受到男性身份社会建构的影响。对七名农村老年男性关于其求助行为的访谈，使用电影片段和假设情景来激发讨论。对转录的数据进行话语分析，结果表明，在这个特定的社会背景下，这些男性在认同两个相互冲突的主体位置时面临两难困境：一是有道德的定期医疗保健使用者，二是男性化的不常使用医疗保健服务者。他们通过将女性定位为频繁且琐碎的医疗保健使用者，而将自己定位为医疗保健的合法使用者来解决这一两难困境。通过以这种方式运用生物医学和道德话语，这些男性能够维持男性身份，同时也将自己视为有道德的医疗保健服务使用者。这些结果支持将霸权男性气质作为一种理论基础的效用，通过突出多种男性身份的复杂性来审视性别身份的建构和维持。
