“Asking for Help was Really Helpful, but Definitely Hard to Say”: A Comparative Analysis of the Intersection of Disability and Masculinity

A small body of work has examined the intersection of masculinity and disability. Key early studies focused attention on the ways in which men with acquired physical disabilities negotiated this dilemma, and the extent to which their strategies contested or reproduced gender norms. Recent work has called for greater attention to the diversity of men’s experiences across disabilities, as well as the dynamic and shifting configurations of gender and disability. In this paper, we engage with recent disability studies scholarship to consider how gender relations and masculinity intersect with ableism as a system of oppression. We draw on qualitative arts-informed research to present a comparative analysis of three men’s embodied experiences of chronic physical illness, intellectual disability, and psychiatric disability. The analysis highlights how complex relations between disability, (re)habilitation, breadwinning and heteronormative domesticity shape the lives and identities of all three men, albeit in quite different ways. As such, the paper provides an important illustration of the varied, dynamic, and often contradictory ways in which men negotiate gendered experiences of illness and disablement.