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Gendering the migraine market: Do representations of illness matter?
- Source :
-
Social Science & Medicine . Oct2006, Vol. 63 Issue 8, p1986-1997. 12p. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- Abstract: Migraine is a common, debilitating and costly disorder. Yet help-seeking for and rates of diagnosis of migraine are low. Drawing on ethnographic observations of pharmaceutical marketing practices at professional headache conferences and a content analysis of migraine advertising, principally in the USA, this paper demonstrates: (1) that the pharmaceutical industry directs its marketing of migraine medication to women; and (2) as part of this strategy, pharmaceutical advertisements portray women as the prototypical migraine sufferer, through representations that elicit hegemonic femininity. This strategy creates the impression that migraine is a “women''s disorder”, which, in turn, exacerbates gender bias in help seeking and diagnosis of migraine and reifies presumptions about the epidemiology of the disorder. I conclude that these pharmaceutical marketing practices have a paradoxical effect: even as they educate and raise awareness about migraine, they also create barriers to help seeking and diagnosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Subjects :
- *DRUG marketing
*MIGRAINE
*DIAGNOSIS
*DISEASES in women
*PHARMACEUTICAL industry
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02779536
- Volume :
- 63
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 22142563
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.05.001