Overlooked role of African-American males' hypermasculinity in the epidemic of unintended pregnancies and HIV/AIDS cases with young African-American women.
This article looks at multiple lines of converging evidence relevant to the 72% unintended pregnancy rate, and recently emerged heterosexually-based HIV/AIDS epidemic with young African-American women. Evidence recently reveals a convergence of these epidemics, in a vulnerable subpopulation segment of African-American women. Overlooked, as a unique contributing factor in these epidemics is the hypermasculine behaviors of African-American males. Among the risky behaviors linked with this hypermasculinity are a greater tendency with African-American males to have more multiple sexual partners, and a stronger aversion to condom use than other male ethnic groups. As a contributing factor in these epidemics, African-American males' hypermasculinity has several implications for intervention strategies to reduce the epidemics, which are discussed.
Wolfe
William A
WA
Belmont Court Dialysis, Warminster Hospital, 225 Newtown Road, Warminster, PA 18974, USA. wwolfe@ucwphilly.rr.com
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044383:Black People; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology*; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology