'Living under assault': men making sense of cancer

In accepting illness as a subjective experience, there is value in examining how individuals perceive, interpret and understand its challenges, knowledge critical to understanding patterns of response. Although researchers have considered how prostate cancer can challenge 'embodied masculinities' few studies have considered gendered dynamics in men's cancer experiences more broadly. This article helps attends to this gap by examining how men with a variety of cancers made sense of the challenges of their illness. The results, part of a grounded theory study including 30 Canadian adult men, highlight how the men perceived a troubled future and a discordant present, a profound sense of uncertainty, and feelings of isolation. These patterns, infused with societal expectations for male bodies and lives, move beyond the particular needs varying by medical, demographic and situational diversities. More specifically, they are recognised as consistent with a 'biographical disruption' or an ongoing problematic situation destabilising how the men made sense of their individual selves and the world around them. Focused on commonalities and considerate of diversities, findings are reviewed in relation to existing work on illness and gender identity and work specific to men with cancer. Implications are discussed.