The Cultural History of the Prostate

This chapter consists of two interrelated parts. Firstly, we present a brief cultural history of the prostate and how this gland, its diseases, and dysfunctions have been understood. We describe early medical practices and understandings of the prostate, along with how prostate cancer and other diseases of the prostate have been treated and discourses developed within medicine and healthcare. We also address how the prostate has historically been linked to ideas about masculinity, sexual (in)ability, and health. Secondly, we present a coarse image of the prevalence of prostate cancer in different countries, situating the book and our Swedish case in an international perspective. This part of the book also provides a discussion on the cultural aspects of the prostate and prostate cancer, and how it is understood and treated in contemporary societies.