Husbands Winston, Oakes Wesley, Mbulaheni Tola, Ongoïba Fanta, Pierre-Pierre Valérie, Luyombya Henry
Ontario HIV Treatment Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Africans in Partnership Against AIDS, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ethn Health. 2020 Jan;25(1):17-33. doi: 10.1080/13557858.2017.1395817. Epub 2017 Oct 29.
Heterosexually active Black men are alleged to endorse masculine norms that increase their and their female partners' vulnerability to HIV. These norms include Black men's inability or reluctance to productively engage their own health-related personal and interpersonal vulnerabilities. We draw on data from the iSpeak research study in Ontario, Canada, to assess whether and how heterosexual Black men cope with personal and inter-personal vulnerability, namely that heterosexual Black men: avoid emotionally supportive relationships with other men (and women), which diminishes their capacity to productively acknowledge and resolve their health-related challenges; are reticent to productively acknowledge and address HIV and health on a personal level; and are pathologically secretive about their health, which compounds their vulnerability and precipitates poor health outcomes. iSpeak was implemented in 2011 to 2013, and included two focus groups with HIV-positive and HIV-negative self-identified heterosexual men ( = 14) in Toronto and London, a focus group with community-based health promotion practitioners who provide HIV-related services to Black communities in Ontario ( = 6), and one-on-one interviews with four researchers distinguished for their scholarship with/among Black communities in Toronto. Participants in the men's focus group were recruited discretely through word-of-mouth. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Team members independently read the transcripts, and then met to identify, discuss and agree on the emerging themes. We demonstrate that iSpeak participants (a) engage their personal and interpersonal vulnerabilities creatively and strategically, (b) complicate and challenge familiar interpretations of Black men's allegedly transgressive masculinity through their emotional and practical investment in their health, and (c) demonstrate a form of resourceful masculinity that ambiguously aligns with patriarchy. We conclude with a range of actionable recommendations to strengthen the discursive framework for understanding heterosexual Black men in relation to HIV and health, and substantively engaging them in community responses to HIV.
据称，有异性性行为的黑人男性认可一些男性规范，这些规范增加了他们自己以及其女性伴侣感染艾滋病毒的易感性。这些规范包括黑人男性无法或不愿有效地应对与其自身健康相关的个人及人际方面的易感性。我们利用加拿大安大略省“我发言”（iSpeak）研究的数据，来评估异性恋黑人男性如何以及是否应对个人及人际易感性，即异性恋黑人男性：避免与其他男性（及女性）建立情感支持性的关系，这削弱了他们有效认识和解决与健康相关挑战的能力；在个人层面上不愿有效认识和处理艾滋病毒及健康问题；并且对自己的健康极度保密，这加剧了他们的易感性并导致不良健康后果。“我发言”研究于2011年至2013年开展，包括在多伦多和伦敦与自我认定为异性恋的艾滋病毒阳性和阴性男性（n = 14）进行的两个焦点小组访谈、与为安大略省黑人社区提供艾滋病毒相关服务的社区健康促进从业者进行的一个焦点小组访谈（n = 6），以及对四位在多伦多黑人社区研究方面颇具学术声望的研究人员进行的一对一访谈。男性焦点小组的参与者通过口口相传的方式被谨慎招募。焦点小组访谈进行了录音并逐字转录。团队成员独立阅读转录文本，然后会面以识别、讨论并就浮现出的主题达成一致。我们证明，“我发言”研究的参与者：（a）创造性且策略性地应对他们的个人及人际易感性；（b）通过对自身健康的情感及实际投入，使对黑人男性所谓越轨男性气质的常见解读变得复杂并提出挑战；（c）展现出一种与父权制模棱两可地相符的机智男性气质形式。我们最后提出了一系列可采取行动的建议，以加强理解异性恋黑人男性与艾滋病毒及健康关系的话语框架，并切实让他们参与到社区对艾滋病毒的应对中。
