Masculinity, Physicality, and Amputee Rehabilitation
Narelle Warren and Lenore Manderson, School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Monash University
Physical disablement challenges hegemonic constructions of masculinity. The process of disablement results to some extent in the loss of function or physical ability. It has been posited that disablement is associated with feminisation. Research with men who have acquired disabilities emphasises their participation in physical activities, particularly sport or sex disseminated through popular cultural media including film and heroic news reportage. This reinforces and reproduces the equation of masculinity with physicality. In this paper, we problematise this equation and explore how gender is re/constructed and re/framed during the institutionalised process of amputee rehabilitation. For the recent amputees in our study, hegemonic cultural narratives of masculinity are re/consolidated and central to the project of in-patient rehabilitation. The physical is privileged, with a focus on ‘returning’ to function, mobility and, in consequence, capability. Simultaneously, the mental or emotional – the feminine – are ignored and disregarded. As a result, issues around grief and loss are silenced.
