When Health Involves Hunting and Peeing in the Front Yard: Obama's Health Reform and the Importance of Rural Masculinity

Abstract

Debate concerning health care reform under the Obama administration has brought attention to health disparities and health promotion within the U.S. Within this debate, it is crucial to examine areas in which structural inequalities persist, but which have received little focused effort, such as the health of rural men. This ethnographic study of an Appalachian community explores how rural men define and reflect upon their own health practices. In-depth interviews and participant observation were used to examine men's perceptions of healthy living. The findings suggest that men in this community not only relate "real" masculinity to a way of approaching health, but also juxtapose their position to health and real masculinity to living outside of rural areas.