Sikweyiya Yandisa M, Jewkes Rachel, Dunkle Kristin
Gender and Health Research Unit, Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa;
Gender and Health Research Unit, Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
Glob Health Action. 2014 Oct 1;7:24631. doi: 10.3402/gha.v7.24631. eCollection 2014.
To date, whilst there have been many published studies exploring the links between masculinity and HIV, not much work has been done to explore how an HIV-positive diagnosis impacts men's sense of masculinity and contextualizing the masculinities as fluid and changing.
To explore how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) impacts the lives of men and their constructions of masculinity through interviews with 18 men living with HIV.
Qualitative study involving conveniently and purposively selected black South African adult men who lived with HIV. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 men who resided in Johannesburg and Mthatha, South Africa.
Our analysis suggests that the performance of risky masculinity may influence the acquisition of HIV. Yet, it also reveals that HIV can have a significant effect on men and their masculinities. Men's constructions of harmful notions of hegemonic masculinity pre-HIV diagnosis negatively affected their help-seeking behavior and coping and adjustment to living with HIV, post-diagnosis. The dominant discourse that men are strong and healthy visibly presented challenges for men when faced with an HIV-positive status. They interpreted HIV diagnosis as a loss, a sign of failure as a man, and evidence of an inability to retain control. Being sick undermined their ability to perform roles expected of them, and this led to feelings of powerlessness, worthlessness, and distress.
Interventions with men living with HIV need to provide safe spaces for men to critically explore gender and constructions of social identities and the pressures these place on men and implications for their health. With this approach, harmful constructions of masculinities may be challenged and mitigated, and this process may render men amenable to change.
迄今为止，虽然已有许多发表的研究探讨男性气质与艾滋病毒之间的联系，但在探索艾滋病毒阳性诊断如何影响男性的男性气质观念以及将男性气质视为流动和变化方面，所做的工作并不多。
通过对18名感染艾滋病毒的男性进行访谈，探讨人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）如何影响男性的生活及其男性气质的建构。
一项定性研究，涉及方便选取和有目的地挑选的感染艾滋病毒的南非成年黑人男性。对居住在南非约翰内斯堡和姆塔塔的18名男性进行了深入访谈。
我们的分析表明，危险男性气质的表现可能会影响艾滋病毒的感染。然而，研究还揭示，艾滋病毒会对男性及其男性气质产生重大影响。在艾滋病毒诊断前，男性对霸权男性气质有害观念的建构对他们寻求帮助的行为以及诊断后应对和适应艾滋病毒感染生活产生了负面影响。当面对艾滋病毒阳性状态时，男性强壮健康的主流话语显然给他们带来了挑战。他们将艾滋病毒诊断视为一种损失，作为男性失败的标志，以及无法保持控制的证据。患病削弱了他们履行预期角色的能力，这导致了无力感、无价值感和痛苦感。
针对感染艾滋病毒男性的干预措施需要为男性提供安全的空间，以便他们批判性地探索性别和社会身份的建构，以及这些对男性的压力及其对健康的影响。通过这种方法，有害的男性气质建构可能会受到挑战并得到缓解，这一过程可能会使男性愿意改变。
