This article explores customers' understandings of their visits to heterosexual strip clubs and the ways in which those visits become meaningful to them in relation to cultural discourses around masculinity, sexuality, leisure, and consumption, as well as in relation to their everyday lives and relationships. Not every man finds strip clubs pleasurable, yet understanding why some men frequent t...

BACKGROUND Stigma is a determinant of social and health inequalities. In addition, some notions of masculinity can disadvantage men in terms of health outcomes. However, few studies have explored the extent to which these two axes of social inequality intersect to influence men's health outcomes. This paper investigates the intersection of HIV stigma and masculinity, and its perceived impact on...

Previous studies have shown that male faces with extreme features associated with testosterone are perceived as dominant and masculine. Women have been reported to prefer more masculinized male faces as they may consider testosterone markers to be an 'honest' indication of good health, and such considerations may underlie their aesthetic preferences. However, pronounced testosterone facial mark...

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Recent formulations of sexual selection theory emphasize how mate choice can be affected by environmental factors, such as predation risk and resource quality. Women vary greatly in the extent to which they prefer male masculinity and this variation is hypothesized to reflect differences in how women resolve the trade-off between the costs (e.g. low investment) and benefits (e.g. healthy offspr...

BACKGROUND HIV prevention has rarely explored the impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) across health domains among African American men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). Early sexual experiences may influence perceptions of gender roles, sexual identity, and risks for HIV/AIDS. The attribute of masculinity is commonly associated with strength and success. However, a legacy of racism and...

In the UK, the media are reporting increasing rates of childhood suicide, while highlighting that increasing numbers of pre-adolescent boys (in relation to girls) are diagnosed as mentally ill. In response, academic, professional and political commentators are explaining this as a consequence of gender. One way of doing this has been to apply adult defined understandings of men and masculinitie...