Gender and Disability | Men with Disabilities
Men with disabilities have long faced a plethora of issues with respect to body image, relationships, sexuality, employment and financial stability. Even in an age when women are fully present in the workforce (although still earning less money on the dollar than men), men continue to cope with the image of the ‘primary earner’, ‘the provider’, and similar stereotypes. But, men still find they must live up to the images that confront them on a daily basis – the image of the ‘well-made’ man, the physically fit metrosexual, the sexy single man, and the solid married, family man.
Discrimination
In Part 1 of this series, the focus was on women with disabilities. The research world-wide continues to support the premise that they face double discrimination; that they are at far more of a disadvantage than a man with a disability. That does not however imply that men with disabilities don’t also face their own challenges and barriers. In the example of the woman in the bar, it is likely that a high percentage of women would first go for the man they perceived of as ‘able’. Why? Because society continues to portray the average man as being fit, healthy and handsome – that implies able.
Manhood and Masculinity
In very real ways, men face distinct forms of social pressure to be a certain kind of man and to uphold society’s outdated notions of manhood and masculinity. At no time, should we ignore or even lessen our efforts to substantially reduce and hopefully eliminate violence and abuse of women with disabilities. Still, it is also true that men with disabilities have been demonized, abused and assaulted.
Read More: