Page 162 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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HEALTH SOCIOLOGY 133

Margaret Stacey (1988) and Ann Oakley the biomedicalization thesis (Clarke et al.,
(1984) in the UK. These early works rested 2003). In much of this work men’s health –
on the assumption of the existence of rather than women’s health – has been
patriarchy as the underlying organizing prin- examined.
ciple in society, affecting women’s social and A gender-analysis of men’s health has,
cultural position. Later gender-relations though, been hard to promote for a number of
theory pointed to the social category of reasons. For example, public health advo-
gender as a binary and hierarchical classifi- cates tend to reduce male gender to psycho-
cation of gender status. The analytical logical concerns, reflected in a preoccupation
tools for understanding the gender order have with the association drawn between norms of
been hegemonic masculinity and the inter- masculinity and men’s reluctance to seek
sectionality of gender, race, class, and age professional help. Furthermore, feminists
in shaping gender, femininities, and mas- tend to interpret claims for resources and a
culinities (Annandale, 1998; Connell and higher profile for research on men’s health as
Messerschmidt, 2005; Lorber, 2001; Witz a form of backlash against the importance of
and Marshall, 2004). women’s health concerns which have drifted
This conflict perspective has been further from view (e.g., Gordon and Thorne, 1996).
developed within post-structuralist femi- The examples above suggest the impor-
nism, which has been inspired by the works tance of identifying the systems of super-
of Michel Foucault (1975; see Petersen and ordination and subordination that characterize
Bunton, 1997) and Judith Butler (1993). The society and their implications for men and
body has become the site for exploring women. A clear gender perspective on health
the discourses of medical knowledge and the professionals, on illness and health, and
medical profession in the construction of the on gender differences in the use of health
gendered body (Lorber and Moore, 2002). services is still needed. The challenge for a
International and national research on twenty-first century sociological research
gender and health has tended to divide into agenda on gender and health is twofold.
those who undertake quantitative research on First, it is important to unravel the hidden
gender inequalities in health and who work agenda of the terms gender and health: at
within the tradition of social epidemiology issue is not only women’s health but also
(e.g., Kuh and Hardy, 2002; Mackenbach men’s health. Second, there is currently a
et al., 1999) and those who use a social con- curious vacuum in theorizing on women’s
structionist or phenomenological approach health at a time when theorizing on men’s
and qualitative methodology, and look at health seems to proliferate, seemingly
the gendered aspects of illness experience inspired by the medicalization of men’s sex-
and health (e.g., Elson, 2004; Mamo and uality and the availability of life enhance-
Fishman, 2001; Popay and Groves, 2000). ment drugs like Viagra and its descendants,
Since the mid-1990s, men’s health has Cialis and Levitra.
emerged as a new field of research (e.g., The current vogue for ‘gender sensitive’
Sabo and Gordon, 1995), and recent pro- health policy, reflected in the gender main-
feminist research on sexuality and masculinity streaming policies of many countries (e.g.,
has developed a male-focused health approach Doyal et al., 2003; Jonsson et al., 2006;
(Loe, 2001; Mamo and Fishman, 2001; Wamala and Agren, 2002) may dampen
Rosenfeld and Faircloth, 2006). This genre down the fiery stand-off between ‘men’s
of studies has been characterized by a con- health’ and ‘women’s health’. It has been
flict perspective, largely based on social con- argued that, by making both female and male
structionist and post-structuralist theorizing. health visible, gender mainstreaming ‘holds
This shift is reflected, for example, in the the greatest potential for improving the health
reintroduction of the medicalization thesis as of both women and men’, i.e., for achieving