"This is an important and timely book which draws recent theorizing about the body into the frame of everyday experience in a manner that is directly relevant to the practical concerns of health promotion. Using accounts by men moving from youth to maturity, Jonathan Watson skilfully explores lay accounts about health and interprets them in terms of different concepts of embodiment." Professor Gareth Williams, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. How do men perceive their bodies? How can empirical study of the body inform our understanding of the social world of men? What are the implications of such understanding for public health? These days it seems that everyone has a view on what it means to be 'a man' and why men behave in the way they do. The irony is that very little of this debate is informed by what men themselves have to say. This lively and engaging book takes an in-depth look at three key contemporary issues - health, identity and the body - by exploring how 'ordinary' men talk about their bodies and experience them in a variety of circumstances. Designed to complement the considerable theoretical work on the body over the past decade, Male Bodies draws on qualitative and quantitative data as well as addressing theoretical issues. It demonstrates the importance of developing an empirically and theoretically informed approach to men's health based on an understanding of male embodiment. It will be invaluable to students and researchers in sociology, health, gender and cultural studies, as well as health professionals concerned with men's health.