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Re‐framing the representation of women in advertisements for hormone replacement therapy
Author(s) -
Whittaker Rosemary
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
nursing inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.66
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1800
pISSN - 1320-7881
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1800.1998.520077.x
Subject(s) - femininity , hormone replacement therapy (female to male) , framing (construction) , menopause , construct (python library) , human sexuality , normalization (sociology) , psychology , gender studies , representation (politics) , social psychology , sociology , medicine , testosterone (patch) , political science , social science , history , archaeology , politics , computer science , law , programming language
This article examines and presents examples of contemporary advertising within the medical and health professions that continue the process and organisation of knowledge about women and their reproductive bodies. It draws on feminist and poststructural perspectives to inform a critical evaluation of the visual representations of menopausal women and hormone replacement therapy. These representations work to construct certain definitions of the feminine that sustain and support existing contradictory cultural meanings and values about menopause. I argue that the images continue to misrepresent and define what forms of femininity and sexual gender are desirable and acceptable for menopausal women. The article addresses the problems of gender discrimination and bias within the advertising industry, and illustrates the ways in which readers of visual texts may be influenced by stereotypic assumptions concerning a woman's lived experience of menopause. It illustrates how specific symbolic images directed towards men and women for hormone replacement therapy, testosterone deficiency and sexual dysfunction influence the viewer's decision making and action responses.