“What Lloyd Austin’s Story Tells Us About Men’s Health”
By: Cassie Whyte, Men’s Health Network Contributor
Amidst geopolitical turmoil and growing public distrust of government officials, it’s easy to forget that holders of important, prestigious titles like United States Secretary of Defense are, after all, people just like us:
people who suffer devastating health diagnoses and then have to deal with the consequences.
On December 22, 2023, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin underwent what doctors have since described as a “minimally invasive surgery” called a prostatectomy in hopes of treating and curing prostate cancer.
Despite being discharged from Walter Reed on the 23rd and apparently working from home the week of December 24-31, Austin was transported by ambulance and admitted to Walter Reed’s ICU on the evening of January 1, 2024.
It wasn’t until January 5th, 4 full business days later, that the Pentagon revealed Austin’s continued and mysterious absence to both the public and the President.
The statement includes the declaration: “The public has a right to know when members of the U.S. Cabinet are hospitalized, under anesthesia, or assigned to duties as a result of any medical procedure.”
However, the Pentagon Press Association failed to disclose Austin’s condition at the time, choosing instead to speak in vague terms about a “recent elective medical procedure” and his hospitalization on January 1, 2024.
It seems clear that this strange scandal is happening in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East, with the US retaliating against the Iranian-backed paramilitary group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba on January 4, apparently without the guidance and oversight of the defense minister. Austin.
Suffice it to say that the stakes were and are especially high, and Austin neglected to communicate essential information through the necessary channels at a time of crisis.
But why? What makes a distinguished leader act in such a way?
Anyone who knows the first thing about men’s, specifically black men’s, complicated relationship with their health is not only unsurprised by this turn of events, but willing to sympathize with it.
Men tend to withhold information about their health. They feel compelled to downplay and de-emphasize their health struggles, or, in other words…
“Pull themselves up by their bootstraps”, “take it on the chin”, remain the “strong, silent guy…”
… and a myriad of other idioms that ultimately boil down to this: tough it out, get over it. Boys are largely socialized to live up to this standard, and these boys later grow up to be men who don’t know how to function any other way.
This trend is often amplified for men in positions of power, as well as within the black community.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the United States, and black men are disproportionately more likely to be diagnosed. According to ZERO Prostate Cancer, “Black men are 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2.1 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than white men.” While there is some evidence to support a genetic component to this disparity, most physicians believe that lack of access to health care, lower screening rates, and refusal to actively seek help are far more important factors.
There is still a pervasive and pervasive stigma surrounding prostate cancer.
The unfortunate truth is that many men will put off testing or treatment until it is too late. Men find the subject embarrassing and indicative of some weakness, avoiding the conversation at all costs. This obfuscation, however, only serves to reinforce the stigma surrounding men’s health, while also putting the men most at risk at risk.
It almost works as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is our duty as men’s health advocates to end this destructive cycle.
It is easy to view Lloyd Austin’s case with an air of bewilderment, condescension, or even contempt. After all, he functionally abandoned the position of Minister of Defense at a clearly critical moment in history. But those targeting and torturing Austin are, in a way, just proving his point. We expect men to handle the catastrophic complications of the earth’s health in a completely stoic and rational way, and then we mock them for not discussing their condition with complete openness and transparency.
Austin was caught in this double bind and acted accordingly.
Lloyd Austin’s case is a perfect storm of compounding factors. As a military man, Lloyd wanted to maintain a reputation for strength and tenacity. As a black man, Lloyd is not only predisposed to prostate cancer, but may be suspicious of the health care system due to historical mistreatment.
And as a man in general, Austin was less inclined to prioritize his own well-being.
After all, men, more than anything else, don’t want to be a burden.
They want to protect, provide and serve others.
They have been wrongly taught that the only way to do this is to ignore their own suffering. We need to assure them, even the most powerful and successful among them, that this is never, ever the case, and often the very opposite is the case. Lloyd Austin’s story is a quintessential example of this.
