Amy Cianflone, 400003075, HLTH AGE 1AA3

Annotated Bibliography

Research Question: How can we account for the fact that women’s bodies have been medicalized more so than men’s bodies?

Martin, E. (2001). The Woman In Th2e Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction.
Beacon Press, 1(5), 4-21. * Main argument is that regardless the shape, size or ethnicity of a woman, they all generally remain the same physically and biologically, therefore can be defined as one unique population, women. * Interviews have been done with a wide-range of different women to analyze certain aspects of the female anatomy in terms of pre-reproduction and post; these women were asked about menstruation, birth, contraceptive methods, menopause, and so on. * Demonstrates how “she may well experience what is in effect as taboo on the development of her human capacities.” (p. 21). This demonstrates how the science behind medicalization can be harsh, impersonal and certainty objective towards the female body.

Conrad, P. (2007). The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human
Conditions into Treatable Disorders. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2(1), 23-27 * Male medicalization is focused upon certain aspects such as andropause, baldness, and sexual performance such erectile dysfunction. Since the market of sexual enhancers such as Viagara (sildenafil citrate), medicalization has definitely taken charge. * Women have been the primary target in medicalization for numerous reasons, both physiologically and mentally. Mainly, women have the tendency to be more vulnerable to be exposed to medicalization in order to meet the definition of a “healthy body” * Argues that “numerous medical testosterone-based treatments have been offered to alleviate this “disorder”. (p. 25). Many parties contribute to medicalization of the male bodies, medicine, expectations of men, pharmaceutical effects, and naturally occurring aging.

Kuhlnann, E & Annandale, E. (2010). The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Healthcare Second Edition. Palgrave MacMillan, 2(4), 37-50. * Strategies have been established in order to promote gender equality in health policy planning. And violence against women has been implied to decrease the rates of sexual abuse for the female population. * Shows how “years of activism by women’s organizations coupled with gender analysis of health and violence have contributed to a greater recognition of violence.” (p. 39). * An emphasis has been put on the education promoted to young girls about sexual health, fertility, menopause and any aspect of the female health outcomes.

Riska, E. (2004). Masculinity and Men’s Health: Coronary Heart Disease in Medical and Public Discourse. Rownan & Littlefield Publishers, INC., 1(4), 1-15. * In the 1970’s and earlier, there was not a significant amount of discussion in masculine health, with the concept that men’s health remained invisible in a vast majority of medical research. * “Men’s health has long been undertheorized by sociologists.” (p. 1). This demonstrates how research in men’s health and discoveries has not been examined for nearly as long as it has been in women’s health. * Main arguments presented are: 1) cultural representations of the masculine gender have been based on a reflection of cultural aspects, which have been included into medical discourse; 2) there has been a significant shift in the perspectives of men’s coronary health, in the medical industry. Bell, S & Aigert, A. (2015). Reimagining (Bio) Medicalization, Pharmaceuticals and Genetics: Old Critiques and New Engagements. Routledge, 2(17), 23-27. * Main argument is that the dynamics of medicalization have been influenced by key factors such as “the rise of the gender scholarship, the growth of the institution of medicine and the pharmaceutical industry.” (p. 23). * The pharmaceutical industry (Big Pharma) has been developing methods to affectively target the female population, therefore pharmaceuticals have become an important proponent in the field of medicalization. * Theories have been set to deeply evaluate the transformations of social stigmas that influence medicalization. Furthermore, large pharmaceutical industries use strategies such as advertisement to eliminate stigma conditions such as ED, social anxiety, and mental health issues.

Clarke et al. (2011) Biomedicalization; Technoscience, Health, and Illness in the U.S. Duke University Press, 3(5), 3-25 * Biomedicalization in modern day emphasizes on the enhancement and analysis of the business of fertilization. * “Big Pharma, suppliers of hospital equipment and technologies, and patients increasingly acting as lively consumers of biomedical goods and services.” Essentially, medical care is upon the concept of economic interest and mainly social aspects. * Numerous other studies take part in biomedicalization “(sexual dysfunction, gender, genetics and ethics, disease representation and diagnosis.)” (p. 26) * The movement of women’s health is centered on overmedicalization. Reference to “Gendering the Medicalization Thesis”, 2003)

Cimons, M. (2008). The Medicalization of Menopause; Framing Media Messages in the Twentieth Century. Univ- ersity of Maryland, 1(14), 30-158 * A case of studies were done in Australia where 302 items from everyday newspapers and feminine magazines and a stunning discovery was made; the media reinforced notions of illness, medical management, and fear when talking about hormonal changing in the female body, primarily during menopause. * Canadian researcher have come to the conclusion that medicalization has been negatively shaping and redefining the “normal processes” of women’s health. * Argues “in the medical literature, the menopausal woman often appeared as ludicrous or repulsive.” (p. 71).