The Salience of Gender 83 4 prefer to hide it. I don’t know any women with Parkinson’s either. I also haven’t heard of women I should know with Parkinson’s. Well from people in the area that I’ve heard of and then I think ‘gosh him too?’. I had no idea. So, you hear that more, men with Parkinson’s.” [Interview 15, Man]* The idea that women with PD are less visible was mentioned by several participants through the lens of gendered relations and role patterns. For example, the idea that women, even under the burden of disease, continue to feel responsible for taking care of household and family duties [Interview 26, Woman], whereas men are taken care of more readily [Interview 15, Man], making them more visible in social context. Another man also expressed an idea that it might be more difficult for women when PD symptoms get more visible, referring to a potential stronger norm for women in upholding conventional feminine standards for their physical appearance [Interview 14, Man]. Gendered emotional experiences Changes in emotional regulation due to PD-related therapies was brought up by several men in a masculine normative manner suggesting that ‘men don’t cry’. For some men this stereotypical belief was more or less pervasive as a gendered emotional experience of PD. “The last few years I have had emotional outbursts a number of times. Well, outburst sounds heavy. I reacted intensely emotionally, to which my environment reacted like ‘gosh, what is going on?’ I was not embarrassed, and I didn’t know it had to do with Parkinson’s. Yes, a man should not cry, it has been said once, but I don’t mind that.” [Interview 39, Man]* “Yes, there is also something there, that has to do with emotions. All you have to do is ask me a question for an examination and tears will trickle down my cheeks. I only have to hear a piece of music and I start to cry. Yes, men don’t cry. That’s how I was raised, yes and that, I have practiced this all my life; that men don’t cry. Until now in recent years and that is a strange sensation.” [Interview 32, Man].* Some women spoke out more specifically about their need to share their emotions with others, particularly with other women. They expressed that, partly due to feminine norms related to openly sharing emotions, it might be easier for women to find emotional support and ask for help compared to men.
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