title: [A time of change for men's health: a process of increasing medicalisation?].
abstract: These days, men suffer from a bad reputation when the media talk about health matters. Nonetheless, talking about men's health is problematic, as it considers the health behaviour of the male gender in an essentialistic manner. Such discourse is socially under-differentiated, frequently dramatises the gender difference rather than explaining it, makes inappropriate individualisations, draws on questionable benchmarks, makes women the positive model without first reflecting, and is ahistorical. Gender patterns have a major significance for health behaviour and have indeed considerably changed the health behaviour of men and women over the last 250 years. Women have been more seriously medicalised and have, on account of their life expectancy, profited more from modernisation, developments in hygiene, the expansion of medical services and state healthcare policies. However, over the last 30 years, besides a continuing parallel medicalisation of men, signs of it increasing can also be seen. Their behaviour has become more compatible with health. A more adequate description of the situation could be achieved through a more concentrated observation of health lifestyles.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Robert Bosch Stiftung Stuttgart, Straußweg 17, 70184, Stuttgart, Deutschland. martin.dinges@igm-bosch.de.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dinges
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000639:trends*; D005783:Gender Identity; D005858:Germany; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000639:trends*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends; D000070497:Healthy Lifestyle; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054526:Men's Health / Q000639:trends*; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000639:trends*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Anthropology; Change in gender role models; Discourse about men’s health; Gender-specific health behaviour; Increasing medicalisation of men