critics say promote misogynistic and harmful views <\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cMany of these harms \u2026 are closely tethered to the embrace of traditional masculine norms,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cThere is a crisis of health for men, which has been around for a long time, and the manosphere which is exploiting the existence of this crisis, is only making it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The messaging that targets men on social media, podcasts, gamer communities and other digital spaces often promote an aggressive definition of masculinity in which dominance and physical appearance are markers of male worth.<\/p>\n
And that creates a \u201cvicious cycle,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have this genuine problem with men\u2019s health \u2026 overall well-being, feeling isolated,\u201d he said. \u201cThe manosphere presents itself as a solution [but] that solution is hyper masculinity, which is the exact wrong thing that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772944032_82_default.jpg\")
Timothy Caulfield a professor in the faculty of law and the school of public health at the University of Alberta says the health challenges men face are being compounded by online influencers in the ‘manosphere.’ (David MacIntosh\/CBC)Reframing masculinity<\/p>\n
Caulfield says any national strategy should acknowledge the broader cultural forces shaping men\u2019s health, including the growing influence of online influencers and even political movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, much of what happened in the United States around MAGA had elements of the manosphere,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cThis is not something that\u2019s happening on the sidelines, this is becoming core to pop culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Bouchard, part of the solution is encouraging men to share their experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest thing that can be done is normalising the conversation about this,\u201d he said. \u201cThat comes from encouraging men to speak to other men.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kuhl agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2026need to understand that men want to talk about [their health issues], but they want to talk about it with people who can use their language \u2026 their understanding of what\u2019s going on in their bodies and minds,\u201d said Kuhl.<\/p>\n
He says those conversations should also include reframing how masculinity \u2014 a word often paired with \u201ctoxic\u201d \u2014 is seen and understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can talk about how \u2018providing for my family\u2019 means [that] I stay healthy,\u201d said Kuhl. \u201cIt means then I take courage rather than fear and say, \u2018I\u2019m going to talk to somebody about it,\u2019 and hopefully I\u2019ll find a doctor who understands what it means to talk to a man.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds, emphasizing the positive aspects of masculinity, such as the desire to provide and care for a family, is crucial to that reframing. Kuhl also encourages family doctors to engage boys and men earlier in the health-care system \u2014 not just when they\u2019re already in crisis.<\/p>\n
For example, Kuhl says, physicians could invite fathers to be part of prenatal visits and signal that their health matters, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it’s primarily women and children [who] are coming \u2026 inform them that you have an interest in the health of the family and that you would really like to have a conversation with the father,\u201d said Kuhl. \u201cSo that there\u2019s a growing familiarity with how men perceive health [care] and how it’s provided and that it\u2019s integrated into the whole picture of what we do in family practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772944033_746_default.jpg\")
Dr. David Kuhl, a professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia says, Canadian men resist engaging with the health-care system because it challenges how they see themselves as men. (David Kuhl)<\/p>\n
Health advocates say addressing men\u2019s health could also have broader public health benefits as well.<\/p>\n
Caulfield points to research showing that \u201cindividuals who embrace traditional masculine norms are less likely to adopt public health behaviours\u201d such as getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n
\u201c[They\u2019re] less likely to do even things like wearing sunscreen or eating healthy because those things aren\u2019t framed as being manly,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cSo it really does have a broad public health component that needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hopes the federal strategy will reinforce the message that being a man includes taking the necessary steps to stay healthy, so men can support and be present for their families.<\/p>\n
As for Bouchard, now a relationship and lifestyle creator who also works with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada, he says the greatest irony is that he has never felt stronger than after confronting the very ideas that once held him back.<\/p>\n
He says battling \u2014 and ultimately beating cancer twice \u2014 forced him to break free of the \u201cprison\u201d of toxic masculinity he once lived in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t recognize the person I used to be anymore,\u201d said Bouchard. \u201cThat\u2019s the great irony, I think, is that I am much stronger now, having gone through [cancer] and admitting to myself that I was in a prison.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LISTEN | A ‘national conversation’ about men’s health: The Current24:03A ‘national conversation’ about men’s health The federal government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-318658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772944032_719_default.jpg\")
Bouchard, right, says his wife, left, had given birth to their daughter, centre, just a few weeks before he noticed a lump on his neck back in April 2020. He says he worried what a cancer diagnosis would mean for his role as breadwinner for his family. (Kolter Bouchard)The \u2018vicious cycle\u2019 of the manosphere<\/p>\n