A latest research says that masculine boys and more feminine girls are likely to be involved in behavior that increases their cancer risk.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed data of 9,435 teen participants in the ongoing Growing Up Today Study. The study began enrolment of the respondents aged between 9 and 14 in 1996.
The findings revealed that boys who portrayed themselves as extremely masculine and showed play preferences in childhood were nearly 80 percent more likely to chew tobacco and 55 percent more likely to smoke cigars compared to their peers who described themselves as the least masculine.
The researchers also noted that the most feminine girls had 32 percent more chances of using tanning beds and 16 percent increased chances of being physically inactive than the less feminine girls.
The researchers also noted that the least masculine boys and least feminine girls exhibited more chances of smoking cigarettes. The authors explained that these participants might be smoking in response to social stressors such as social exclusion or harassment related to their gender eccentricity or perceived sexual orientation.
The researchers also noted that reading magazines and watching movies also promoted certain cancer risk behavior. Among girls, these activities increased the likelihood of utilizing tanning beds by one third to one half.
"Our findings indicate that socially constructed ideas of masculinity and femininity heavily influence teens' behaviors and put them at increased risk for cancer. Though there is nothing inherently masculine about chewing tobacco, or inherently feminine about using a tanning booth, these industries have convinced some teens that these behaviors are a way to express their masculinity or femininity," lead author Andrea Roberts, research associate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), said in a news release.
The findings were published online April 16 in Journal of Adolescent Health.
