Masculinities and health: Whose identities, whose constructions?

Discursive research focuses on the examination of how individuals negotiate versions of identities, events, and social phenomena in social interaction. The chapter describes the key elements of this approach, in terms of paying close attention to how people ascribe, resist and rework identities and what these accomplish. Applying the approach to the study of gendered identities and health, the chapter considers in detail the construction of one specific gendered identity, namely that of hegemonic masculinity. This identity recurs frequently in the literature on gender and health but has been overemphasised, often with little regard for the situatedness of gendered identity. Moreover many studies have tended to equate considerations of health with those of ill-health, often paying little attention to the contextual features of the identities in play. Adopting a discursive perspective provides a detailed understanding of how individuals negotiate gender in relation to health and ill-health.