ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a critical review of a range of perspectives on the 'nature of masculinity'. It considers the adequacy of various theoretical perspectives, including male liberationalists as early as the 1970s arguing that men are victims of masculinity. The growth of interest in men's studies in the 1980s brought into greater prominence questions about the relationship between concepts of health, masculinity, men's lives and their experiences of illness. The issue of masculinity, J. Watson suggests, acknowledging the work of D. Sabo and D. F. Gordon, is a complex interplay between the personal, social and political. The chapter outlines a strategy of recasting masculinity and calls for men to take responsibility for what they are. The ambition has been to investigate the work of contributors in the mens arena, with and against the insights of feminists and contributors in the women arena.
