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Health Promotion International Advance Access originally published online on September 13, 2005
Health Promotion International 2005 20(4):334-341; doi:10.1093/heapro/dai021
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Masculinities and young men's sex education needs in Ireland: problematizing client-centred health promotion approaches

Abbey Hyde1, Etaoine Howlett2, Jonathan Drennan1 and Dympna Brady1

1School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland and 2Department of Sociology, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

Address for correspondence: Abbey Hyde School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Belfield Campus, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland, E-mail: abbey.hyde{at}ucd.ie

In recent decades, dominant discourses in health promotion have emphasized empowerment, client participation and the notion of people identifying and being facilitated to meet their own health needs. However, there has been little analysis of the concept of ‘need’ and the possibility, at least, that the fulfilment of some such self-defined needs are not in the interest of social justice and equality. In this article, we present an account of the sex education needs of secondary school pupils from their own perspectives, and problematize the concept of self-identified needs in health education. Twenty-nine focus group interviews were conducted with 226 secondary school pupils in Ireland, and data were subjected to a qualitative analysis. Findings suggested that young men tended to prioritize practical guidance that would provide them with the skills and confidence to take the lead in sexual encounters, and display competence in the act of penetrative sex. We argue that these self-defined sex education needs emanate from a culture of traditional masculinity where, for a male, one's place in the pecking order is derived from one's capacity to conquer, lead and display mastery with regard to sex. In the discussion, we attempt to unpack the notion of clients identifying their own needs and the concept of empowerment as it relates to our data, in the context of gender-based structural inequalities.

Key words: sex education; masculinities; client-centred approach


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 Am J Mens HealthHome page
A. Hyde, J. Drennan, E. Howlett, and D. Brady
Young Men's Vulnerability in Constituting Hegemonic Masculinity in Sexual Relations
American Journal of Men's Health, September 1, 2009; 3(3): 238 - 251.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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