Masculinities and Mental Health

Eating Disorders in Men's Lived Experience and Contemporary Discourse
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-02853-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Literature and Health Humanities

Masculinities and Mental Health explores literary texts, images, and performances which engage with the under-explored topic of eating disorders in men. Eating reflects prevailing cultural norms that prescribe or condemn who eats when, what and how much. Underpinning these norms are highly gendered ideas regarding which body weight, shape and size is deemed appropriate for men and women, boys and girls. Eating disorders are psychiatric illnesses commonly associated with females only and expressed through extreme eating behaviour, excessive exercise or food avoidance. The fact that men can suffer from anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and other types of eating disorders too, presents a challenge not only to healthcare disciplines but also to public and cultural perceptions. Exploring these thematic and formal themes, this volume scrutinizes standardised concepts of masculinity and male mental health in contemporary discourse. This book includes literary writings, graphic novels, art, photography, performance, film, and ego-documents on social-media from North America and central Europe from the 1970s to the present, as well as textual and non-textual sources from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. Masculinities and Mental Health also explores a global dimension of the topic by examining eating disorders and broader concepts of masculinity as Western cultural imports.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Paslakis, Georgios

Bartel, Heike

Downs, James

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE: Masculinities, Mental Health, and Men’s Eating Disorders

PART 1: Masculinities and Health

PART 2: Men and Eating Disorders

CHAPTER TWO: Sites of Masculinities and Eating Disorders: Sport and Sexuality

Part 1: Sport

Part 2: Sexuality

Chapter THREE: New Frames for Lived-Experience Narratives

Part 1: Other Ways of Telling: Beyond Written Narratives

Part 2: ‘Lines That Tell Stories: Men, Eating Disorders, and More’

Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Heike Bartel (PhD; she/her; lead author) is Professor of German Studies and Health Humanities at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her particular field of interest is exploring the potential of the arts to inform and shape healthcare and to lead to better health and well-being. Her background is in literary and gender studies and she works in teams across disciplines including clinicians, patient experts, trauma survivors, and artists to co-create health interventions using autobiographical writing, animated film, visual art, video poems, rap music, and other media. Her ongoing work on eating disorders focuses on boys and men, and she has published widely in the field.

James Downs (MEd [Cantab]; he/him) is a lived experience researcher, writer, and advocate, whose work focuses on the intersections of embodiment, mental health, and epistemic justice. Drawing on over two decades of personal experience with eating disorders and related health conditions, he works across research, policy, and clinical practice to centre lived experience as a critical form of expertise. He has contributed to national and international work on co-production in research, often with a particular focus on eating disorders in men and other marginalized groups. Alongside his advocacy, James is a highly experienced musician, qualified psychological therapist, yoga and dance teacher, and community arts facilitator. His work engages deeply with questions of masculinity, sexuality, and neurodivergence in shaping experiences of the body and mental health.

Georgios Paslakis (Dr. med.; he/him) is Professor for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, and involved in both clinical treatments of individuals with eating disorders as well as research, with a special focus on men with eating disorders. He also works in teams across disciplines examining the impact of gender roles and normative masculinities on mental health in general and eating disorders specifically. He has authored numerous publications on the subject.