title: Men, bodily control, and health behaviors: the importance of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To conduct an intersectional analysis of relations between gender and age in the health behaviors of middle-aged men, informed by cross-national comparison between Finland and the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thematic and discourse analysis of data from interviews conducted among professional and working-class, middle-aged men in the U.S. and Finland.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents report that middle age inspires them to regard many bodily changes as more than transitory; and they assume a sense of responsibility that can lead to greater self-care. Men reported using such strategies as discipline, routine, and monitoring in their attempts to forestall aging.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The men face contradictions: While they may adopt ideologies of masculinity and control and accept responsibility for influencing their health, their bodies may also present them with age-based limitations to their abilities to do so. How men respond to these changes varies by context, including their aging and these nations' different systems of health care.
authors: Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, USA.
authors: Toni
authors: T
authors: Calasanti
authors: Ilkka
authors: I
authors: Pietilä
authors: Hanna
authors: H
authors: Ojala
authors: Neal
authors: N
authors: King
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005387:Finland; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D008571:Men / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012648:Self Care; D014481:United States