It investigates how notions of 'maleness' impact on the individual's approach to health and take-up of services, and provides clear foundations for best practice in care. Parts 2 and 3 consider empirical work in relation to men, health and illness, providing critical rather than simply descriptive accounts.

Foreword; K.Hunt.- Acknowledgments.- Notes on Contributors.- Introduction What is the Point of This Book?; B.Gough& S.Robertson.- PART I: CURRENT ISSUES AND DEBATES IN THE FIELD OF MEN'S HEALTH.- Developing a Critical Men's Health Debate in Academic Scholarship; M.Lohan.- A Grand Illusion: Masculinity, 'Passing' and Men's Health; D.Buchbinder.- Men, Public Health and Health Promotion: Towards a Critically Structural and Embodied Understanding; S.Robertson & R.Williams.- Bugging the Cone of Silence With Men's Health Interviews; J.L.Oliffe.- PART II: POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF MEN'S HEALTH AND WELLBEING.- Men's Negotiations of a 'Legitimate' Self-help Group Identity; S.Seymour-Smith.- Older Men's Health: The Role of Marital Status and Masculinities; K.Davidson& R.Meadows.- Promoting 'Masculinity' Over Health: A Critical Analysis of Men's Health Promotion With Particular Reference to an Obesity Reduction 'Manual'; B.Gough.- The Health Experiences of African-Caribbean and White Working Class Fathers; R.Williams.- PART III: MEN, MASCULINITIES AND ILLNESS.- Pathologizing Fatherhood: The Case of Male Post Natal Depression in Britain; E.Lee.- Prostate Cancer and Masculinities in Australia; A.Broom.- Understanding Masculinities within the Context of Men, Body Image and Eating Disorders; M.Drummond.- The Role of Masculinities in White and South Asian Men's Help-seeking Behaviour for Cardiac Chest Pain; P.Galdas.- Afterword: What Next for Men's Health Research?; S.Robertson& B.Gough.- Index.

Men drink too much alcohol, eat unhealthy food and avoid going to the doctors until they are seriously ill. Indeed, some say being masculine is bad for men's health. But is the situation so simple? This deeply engaging book explores both the psychological and sociological factors that affect men and their health. It investigates how notions of 'maleness' impact on the individual's approach to health and take-up of services, and provides clear foundations for best practice in care. Part 1 of the book explores and sets the theoretical scene. It asks why disparate fields have not previously been brought together and what theoretical frameworks could be utilised to assist in this process. Parts 2 and 3 consider empirical work in relation to men, health and illness, providing critical rather than simply descriptive accounts.   Bringing together an international collection of contributors, Men, Masculinities and Health provides fresh ideas for practice; creating a fertile terrain for future debate that will excite all those interested in gender issues.

Draws together two previously disparate disciplines to provide an original insight into the psychological and sociological factors that affect men's healthChapters consider empirical work and use these to develop theoretical frameworks, thereby providing critical rather than descriptive accounts Contributions are from an international team, ensuring a balance of scholarship and applicability beyond the UK