Resourceful masculinities: exploring heterosexual Black men’s vulnerability to HIV in Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Heterosexually active Black men are alleged to endorse masculine norms that increase their and their female partners’ vulnerability to HIV. These norms include Black men’s inability or reluctance to productively engage their own health-related personal and interpersonal vulnerabilities. We draw on data from the iSpeak research study in Ontario, Canada, to assess whether and how heterosexual Black men cope with personal and inter-personal vulnerability, namely that heterosexual Black men: avoid emotionally supportive relationships with other men (and women), which diminishes their capacity to productively acknowledge and resolve their health-related challenges; are reticent to productively acknowledge and address HIV and health on a personal level; and are pathologically secretive about their health, which compounds their vulnerability and precipitates poor health outcomes.

Design: iSpeak was implemented in 2011 to 2013, and included two focus groups with HIV-positive and HIV-negative self-identified heterosexual men (N = 14) in Toronto and London, a focus group with community-based health promotion practitioners who provide HIV-related services to Black communities in Ontario (N = 6), and one-on-one interviews with four researchers distinguished for their scholarship with/among Black communities in Toronto. Participants in the men’s focus group were recruited discretely through word-of-mouth. Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Team members independently read the transcripts, and then met to identify, discuss and agree on the emerging themes.

Results: We demonstrate that iSpeak participants (a) engage their personal and interpersonal vulnerabilities creatively and strategically, (b) complicate and challenge familiar interpretations of Black men’s allegedly transgressive masculinity through their emotional and practical investment in their health, and (c) demonstrate a form of resourceful masculinity that ambiguously aligns with patriarchy.

Conclusion: We conclude with a range of actionable recommendations to strengthen the discursive framework for understanding heterosexual Black men in relation to HIV and health, and substantively engaging them in community responses to HIV.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• heterosexual
• Black men
• vulnerability
• masculinity
• racism
• Canada

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the iSpeak participants and community stakeholders for their enthusiasm and generosity. iSpeak was funded through a Catalyst Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), with additional funding from the CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention (SRC). During the research, Winston Husbands was supported by a Community Scholar Award from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). The funders are not responsible for the content of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant number CDE109807); and the CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention (SRC).