The purpose of the thesis was to find out which life events have led to developing an eating disorder among males and what kind of significance coming down with the disease has had to their manly identity.

The thesis is based on a qualitative method. The data was collected from a male who had been diagnosed with an eating disorder. The data was collected between June 7th and June 29th in 2010 in written form. The data was analysed in a deductive content analysis. In order to protect anonymity of the respondent the name of the partner in co-operation remains unrevealed.

About 10 percent of people with eating disorder are boys or men. These disorders are not known well enough in health care. Eating disorders have been stigmatized as girls' and women's diseases which makes it difficult for boys and men to go and get treated. Boys and men meet continuously more demands concerning appearance and manliness.

According to researchers there are many factors that affect possibility of developing an eating disorder. It is more significant how an individual experiences life events than what those events are. It has been discovered that doubt about one's gender identity occurs among males with eating disorder.

According to the results of the thesis significant life events were coming down with a chronic disease, health care worker's comment about weight and experienced lack of athletic skills. All life events aimed at promoting one's health. Coming down with an eating disorder made one feel unsure about manliness. The data revealed that eating disorder created experiences of insufficientness and abnormality and made one to search confirmation for manliness.