Men and Covid-19: Explicating the need for masculinity analysis

Anisur Rahman Khan; Kopano Ratele

doi:10.35782/JCPP.2021.1.01

Anisur Rahman Khan Department of Sociology, East West University, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
Kopano Ratele Masculinity and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa/ Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35782/JCPP.2021.1.01

Keywords: COVID-19, gender, masculinity, men’s health, domestic violence, suicide

Abstract

There are important gender determinants to both men’s and women’s susceptibility to COVID-19. Emerging findings confirm men are dying disproportionately at a higher rate than women. Such gender differences in deaths have informed scholars to widen their analytical look through a critical masculinity lens. As the practices to respond to the context of the gendered burden of disease are still inadequate and nearly absent on men’s health, it is suggested to specifically focus on men’s vulnerability to COVID-19 with appropriate interventions.