In this project we worked with a diverse group of people living with intellectual disability, mental health conditions, and chronic physical illness (Multiple Sclerosis and Fibromyalgia) who identified as men. In the first stage of the project, we met with each participant to explore questions such as:
- What do you think it means to be a man in today’s society?
- How would describe yourself as a man?
- Have your experiences of disability/illness changed how you think about masculinity?
After our first meeting, we transcribed these interviews and shared the transcripts with participants. In some instances, we met with men for second interviews to continue our conversations.
In the second stage of our project, we organized visual arts workshops in which we asked participants to create a picture “that shows what it means to be a man based on your experience”
We selected this visual arts approach as it offers a way for participants to articulate aspects of their personal experiences that might be difficult to express in words. In this sense, visual arts methods can help us to understand complex topics like gender norms.
We also know that some people can find it difficult to see themselves as artists. For this reason, we offered participants lots of different options and materials for the creative activity. The workshops were also co-led by arts facilitators who were available to offer help. Once the creative activity was completed, participants had the option to talk about their artwork with the other of the group. This gave them the opportunity to reflect on content and meaning of the piece, as well as the process of its creation.
We were finishing this stage of our project in the summer of 2020. COVID restrictions meant we weren’t able to hold group workshops for men living with MS and Fibromyalgia. Instead, we worked with individual participants over the telephone. In some instances, they worked alone to create their own art. In other instances, they worked collaboratively with April Mansilla, an artist on the research team, to produce an artwork.
We are very grateful for the enthusiasm and creative energy of those who participated in this project. We would also like to thank the organizations who helped to make the project a success, spreading the word about the project, helping to coordinate interviews, and providing space for arts workshops. These organizations include:
- L’Arche Toronto
- The Mental Health Rights Coalition (Hamilton)
- The Canadian Mental Health Association (Hamilton)
- The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada