The male heart and the female mind: A study in the gendering of antidepressants and cardiovascular drugs in advertisements in Irish medical publication

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.08.063

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 62, Issue 8, April 2006, Pages 1970-1977

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.08.063 Get rights and content

Abstract

Stereotypes which suggest that cardiovascular disease and depression are related to gender can have consequences for the mental and physical health outcomes of both men and women. This study examines how these stereotypes may be reinforced by medical publications advertising for cardiovascular and antidepressant medication. A random sample of 61 (with no repeats) advertisements which appeared in Irish medical publications between July 2001 and December 2002 were analysed using both content and semiotic analysis. Results indicate that the meanings created by advertisers for cardiovascular drugs and antidepressants did in fact gender these products. Women were depicted as the predominant users of antidepressants and men as the main users of cardiovascular drugs. The images used identified two stereotyped patients: the ‘male’ heart patient and the depressed ‘female’ patient. Furthermore, the imagery and language used to promote the two categories of medication tended to strengthen gendered associations.

Section snippets

Main text

This paper examines the ways in which pharmaceutical advertising in medical publications helps to reinforce potentially harmful stereotypes which suggest that certain illness are related to gender. In particular, it looks at the gendered representations used to identify patients prone to depression and heart disease.

Method

The following analysis is based on advertisements for anti-depressants and cardiovascular drugs which appeared in four Irish medical publications over an 18-month period from July 2001–December 2002. The sample was drawn from every first issue of the month of the three weekly publications, the Irish Medical Times, the Irish Medical News, and Medicine Weekly and the eighteen monthly issues of Forum, giving a total of 54 publications. Including repeats, a total of 474 advertisements appeared for

Results

The results support the conclusion that distinct images are used by advertisers in medical publications to identify patients at risk of or suffering from depression and cardiovascular disease. Content analysis found that in advertisements displaying human forms, 91.7% (22) of users of cardiovascular drugs were portrayed as male, whereas 85.7% (12) of the users of anti-depressants were depicted as female. This difference was highly significant [ $χ^{2} (1) = 22.75$ , $p < 0.001$ ] with the measure of

Discussion

The basic numerical difference in the gender of the users represented in these two types of advertisements demonstrates a dramatic difference and conforms to the stereotypical notion of depression as a ‘female’ disease and heart disease as ‘male’ one. In the case of depression this finding agrees with similar studies (Mant & Darroch, 1975; Prather & Fidell, 1975; Ficca et al., 2000). Advertisers may argue that in reality women are more likely to suffer from depression, but the process of

Conclusion

The present study cannot demonstrate that the gender typing of antidepressants and cardiovascular drugs results in different outcomes for men and women suffering from these illnesses. However, it can be proposed that as advertisers are on familiar terms with their audience of medical practitioners, these advertisements are meaningful to their target audience. The depiction of these stereotypical images reinforces communal meanings of gender and health, which must have some impact on the

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The male heart and the female mind: A study in the gendering of antidepressants and cardiovascular drugs in advertisements in Irish medical publication

Abstract

Section snippets

Main text

Method

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Social Science & Medicine

Social Science & Medicine

Social Science & Medicine

Social Science & Medicine

Social Science & Medicine

An assessment protocol for gender analysis of medical Literature

Women & Health

Myocardial infraction in women: A critical appraisal of gender differences in outcomes

Pharmacotherapy

Media analysis techniques

Branding and its potential within the pharmaceutical industry

Report of the Cardiovascular Health Strategy Group

Physicians, pharmaceutical sales representatives and the cost of prescribing

Archives Family Medicine

Gender differences in Mental Health in Ireland

A social science perspective on gifts to physicians from industry

JAMA

Suicide in Ireland: A national study

Promoting women's health: A population investment for Ireland's future

Gender advertisements

Growing up

The content of advertisements in medical journals: Distorting the image of women

Women & Health