Intersecting identities of age, gender and sexual orientation in gay and bisexual men’s narratives of prostate cancer

Abstract

Intersectionality brings a distinctive lens to nuanced differences in gay and bisexual (GB) men’s experiences of prostate cancer health along dimensions of age, hegemonic masculinity and sexual orientation. This chapter reports data collected from seven GB men diagnosed with the disease who formed part of a larger study. The data are presented in three emerging themes: Gay and bisexual men’s embodied sense of self; Managing the emotional roller-coaster of prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment and Intimate and sexual relationships following prostate cancer. The data allow us also to understand men’s strategies of resistance and resilience in coping with adversity. GB men are not privileged by heterosexual gender relations, but their narratives suggest they draw on discourses of hegemonic masculinity in contingent and temporal ways..