Masculinity and prostate cancer: the virility of dominance and representation
Written By: Aidan Abney
August 25, 2026
Western society has often pointed the finger of attention towards the intrinsic value of testosterone in relation to male dominance. As testosterone increases, it deepens voices, adds muscle, and unleashes acne, among other things. All of it conglomerates into the masculinity we see in the United States. Of course, testosterone is an important hormone for the development of young men alike, but what happens when there’s a threat to the male identity? Something so severe that it impacts how we view the strength of a man?
The first question we should answer is: What is masculinity? In short, it is the set of traits and behaviors that define boys and men. Now, what these traits and behaviors are composed of is debatable across many different academic forums, cultures, and social platforms, but they usually amount to control, dominance, virility, and strength. Definitions were shaped over centuries of war, Greek and American philosophy, and by societies pressured by government and sociological factors to create and assign roles to male figures. With most cultural inuendos, there have been extremes, but the masculinity we observe in the United States is always a lingering power struggle for both induced marginalization and a refusal to “weakness.” In those weaknesses, health will come up, and it is often the most unsettling one to mention for many men.
When the topic of prostate cancer is involved in conversations about health and awareness, it is either shrugged off or can be a psychologically powerful hit to the perceived control that a man has - the ego. Masculinity thrives on autonomy, the stoicism used in politics, warfare, and status to sway audiences. Prostate cancer, the malignancy that reveals modern man’s biggest insecurities, breaks that power. However, while a prostate cancer diagnosis on its own may be one of, if not the most, devastating and/or frightening news for a man in his mid 50s, it is usually the side effects that cause ripples of sociological persecution in the subjective hierarchy of manhood.
Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) is a hormone treatment that prevents androgens from binding to prostate cancer cells to inhibit growth. ADT is placed at the highest mountain of therapies used against urological cancers, but it doesn’t have the best wrap for one main reason: the rapid physical changes. It takes a severe toll on a patient’s quality of life, compared with its use in the dysfunction of patients’ relationships, which alters how the public views its significance and reputation. In the sphere of “manhood,” sexual prowess is one of the highest-rated skills that a man could attain, and it is even more impressive when it seems like a natural talent. It is one of our most primal aspects, and when it is affected, it can cause shame, frustration, and hopelessness. Most of the side effects that ADT causes, like loss of libido, sexual potency, and erectile dysfunction, hurt that part of our identity. Now, this is not to say that the perspective a man may have on their physical health being affected by a hormone therapy is nonsensical. It should be acknowledged, discussed, and communicated through a health-conscious lens. The identity of a man is important, and the idea we have of masculinity takes various forms, especially in today’s climate. It’s important to emphasize that masculinity will always be associated with the previous concepts (sex drive, dominance, etc.), but what’s fascinating is how toxic masculinity utilizes these concepts to shame others, especially within the LGBTQ+ community and Black-American groups. This connects with treatment, as a common belief, in the older generation specifically, that getting help, attempting to treat your prostate cancer, is an effeminate and therefore weak way to live.
This shame is much more than feeling feminine because of “sexual inferiority” or weakness; it is the propaganda that “men will always be powerful no matter what,” a lineage of suffering that gets its message across through subliminal cues, sexist ideology, and communal conditioning. The fact that many Black-American and Caribbean communities stigmatize prostate cancer screening is not just an accident; it is premeditated, not by them, but by decades of Western healthcare practices, which have led to restrictive screening techniques towards minorities and telling men that the way to not be oppressed or weak is to push through pain. This is obviously dangerous and only leads to greater secrecy, greater untrustworthiness, and more lies in men's personal lives. Social media figures such as Andrew Tate, Myron Gaines, and Andrew Wilson don’t help alleviate any of the pressures men already face, and social media itself is an algorithmic mess of content slop and toxic masculinity.
Prostate cancer is a horrible disease that can manage to conquer one’s personal life, but it’s important to add that, besides all of the traditional norms of masculinity today, trying to have an optimistic view of one’s identity while in that situation can have a positive impact on the psychology of patients. If you are able to prioritize close relationships with people, emotional honesty, and fighting through the disease by putting your ego aside, the process becomes increasingly more efficient for you. As a sidenote, although most of this essay is a rant on how hegemonic masculinity is keeping men from reaching out for diagnoses and treatment, it is also an introduction to many more topics that I hope to touch on in the future, such as body image, testosterone, systemic racism, and more.
