When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, ensuring one’s physical health became the priority. As the toll of social distancing and prolonged stay-in-place orders have shown, the importance of addressing mental health and well-being is integral to our COVID-19 response for all, but particularly for people of color. Minority communities across the nation have experienced greater rates...Continue reading
I grew up in an affirming faith community that had an AIDS outreach ministry in the early 1990s, which was a radical move during that period and a statement that I hope helps frame my story. For 16 years, HIV has been a major part of my life. Though my HIV status is negative, I...Continue reading
Women have been trimming (or removing outright) their pubic hair for thousands of years. Men generally enjoy the results (in a recent study by askmen.com, 41% of men said they prefer women with no pubic hair at all, while 38% said they prefer a nice trim), but they’ve traditionally remained shaggier than their women. That,...Continue reading
More men experienced mental health crises and suicidal ideation during the pandemic lockdown than in previous years, according to a recent mental health report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Social isolation and environmental stress also led to a rise in substance abuse— a common coping mechanism for many depressed and anxious men. ...Continue reading
Physical pain brings little judgement from others upon the person suffering. A man’s strength does not come into question when he grimaces in pain from his broken leg. The content of his character and his place within his community do not stand in judgement as he struggles to recover. Yet what of injuries that...Continue reading
Dear Healthy Men: You’ve written several columns about the effect that COVID-19 has had on men. What about women? I’ve read recently, for example, that women are being affected disproportionately in the war on COVID because most of the jobs that have been lost were held by women. As Hillary Clinton once said, “Women have...Continue reading
This June marked 40 years since the first cases of what is now known as HIV, then AIDS, were reported by CDC. We have made great progress in HIV testing, prevention, and treatment in the last four decades. Reductions in the number of people that get HIV likely reflect more access to HIV prevention tools...Continue reading
Men’s Health Network (MHN) applauds the recommendations from CDC and NIH announced on August 18, 2021, to make COVID-19 booster vaccinations available for those who are at higher risk of COVID-19 infections, including nursing home residents, health-care providers, and those over 65 years of age. These were the majority of those to first get vaccinated...
As life starts to return to a “new” normal from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are coming to a point where the number of COVID-19 cases are increasing, but more and more individuals are able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. Over the course of the pandemic, we have seen COVID-19 take the lives...Continue reading
With his usual directness and humility, former Kansas senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, 97, announced in February that he is suffering from lung cancer. It was the second time he had announced a cancer diagnosis, but less exceptional than the first time. In 1991, his office released the news that he had undergone...