Dolan, Alan and Coe, Christine. (2011) Men, masculine identities and childbirth. Sociology of Health & Illness, Vol.33 (No.7). pp. 1019-1034. ISSN 0141-9889

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Abstract

In recent years, fathers’ experiences during childbirth have attracted much research and policy interest. However, little of this work has been grounded in the first-hand accounts of men and there is a lack of theory-based research to help understand men’s thoughts and practices around childbirth. This paper is based on qualitative research undertaken with first-time fathers and healthcare professionals. It draws on Connell’s (1995) conceptualisation of hegemonic masculinity to explore how men construct masculine identities within the context of pregnancy and childbirth and also how healthcare professionals construct masculinity. The paper demonstrates the ways in which men can find themselves marginalised within the context of pregnancy and childbirth, but are still able to draw on identifiable markers of masculine practice which enable them to enact a masculine form congruent with dominant masculinity. It also illustrates how healthcare professionals’ constructions of masculinity enable them to predict how men will behave and allow them to position men in ways that involve minimum disruption to their own practice. The paper also highlights how men’s marginal status is embedded in the dynamics of the social structure, which produce and reproduce dominant masculine identities within the context of childbirth.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Health and Social Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Fathers, Masculinity, Childbirth, Pregnancy
Journal or Publication Title:	Sociology of Health & Illness
Publisher:	Blackwell
ISSN:	0141-9889
Date:	November 2011
Volume:	Vol.33
Number:	No.7
Page Range:	pp. 1019-1034
Identification Number:	10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01349.x
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/39533

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