Maturing Masculinities

Wentzell Emily A. Wentzell

Description

Maturing Masculinities is a nuanced exploration of how older men in urban Mexico incorporate aging, chronic illness, changing social relationships, and decreasing erectile function into their conceptions of themselves as men. It is based on interviews that Emily A. Wentzell conducted with more than 250 male patients in the urology clinic of a government-run hospital in Cuernavaca. Drawing on science studies, medical anthropology, and gender theory, Wentzell suggests the idea of "composite masculinities" as a paradigm for understanding how men incorporate physical and social change into gendered selfhoods.Erectile dysfunction treatments like Viagra are popular in Mexico, where stereotypes of men as sex-obsessed "machos" persist. However, most of the men Wentzell interviewed saw erectile difficulty as a chance to demonstrate difference from this stereotype. Rather than using drugs to continue youthful sex lives, many collaborated with wives and physicians to frame erectile difficulty as a prompt to embody age-appropriate, mature masculinities.

Sujets

• Histoire
• México
• History of the Americas
• Mexico

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 05 juillet 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822377528
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Maturing Masculinities

Maturing Masculinities aging, chronic illness, and viagra in mexico

 .  

Duke University PressDurham and London2013

©  Duke University Press. All rigts reserved. Printed in te United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ Designed by Courtney Leig Baker and typeset in Warnock Pro by Westcester Publising Services.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Wentzell, Emily A., – Maturing masculinities : aging, cronic illness, and Viagra in Mexico / Emily A. Wentzell. pages cm Includes bibliograpical references and index. ISBN ---- (clot : alk. paper) ISBN ---- (pbk. : alk. paper) . Masculinity—Mexico. . Macismo—Mexico. . Impotence—Mexico. . Sildenafil—Mexico. I. Title. BF.W  .—dc 

To My Parents, lynn puritz-fine and steve wentzell. thank you for your unflagging love and support.

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction changing bodies and masculinities in post-viagra mexico 

Chapter One mexicanness, machismo , and maturity in composite masculinities 

Chapter Two sex, relationships, and masculinities 

Chapter Three chronic illnesses as composite problems 

Chapter Four rejecting erectile dysfunction drugs 

Chapter Five medical erectile dysfunction treatment in context 

Conclusion cultural change over time in responses to erectile difficulty 

Bibliograpy Index 

Ac know ledg ments

If te urology patients at te Cuernavaca  ospital ad not been so generous in saring teir stories and trusting me to tell tem, tis book would not exist. I am profoundly grateful to tem, as well as to te urol- ogy department doctors and staff for adopting me as part of teir unit; supporting my researc; and saring teir work, lives, and delicious breakfasts wit me. Altoug tey are identified pseudonymously ere, I ave no doubt tat tey will recognize te parts of tis work tat tey made possible. I ave many oter people to tank for teir support of my fieldwork for tis book, including te private-practice pysicians, par- macists, and drug representatives wo sared teir time and experiences wit me; and Ivonne Szasz for providing excellent advice and institu- tional affiliation at te Colegio de México. I tank Jorge Salmerón Castro, te director of te  Unidad de Investigación Epidemiológica y en Servicios de Salud (), for provid- ing crucial access to te field site, aid wit te ospital bureaucracy, of- fice space, and unflagging support for my researc. hat Dr. Salmerón was willing to do all tis for an unknown American speaking suc a dif- ferent disciplinary language is a testament to is generosity in support- ing junior researcers and is immense kindness. I also tank te  staff for teir companionsip and elp. Some local friends are largely re- sponsible for keeping me sane during fieldwork: I tank my wonderful roommates Dulce Palomo Rojas and Ricardo Mendoza Fragoso; my movie, spa, and ealt researc partner Yvonne Flores Leonard; and my fellow antropological sex researcers Eva Alcantara and Sara Luna. I am deeply indebted to many oter people and institutions tat made tis researc possible. his includes financial support from te Wenner- Gren Foundation, Fulbrigt , and te American Association of Uni- versity Women, as well as several University of Micigan programs. his project began as my PD dissertation, and I am grateful to te committee