Women's magazines damage women's health

D. Spence

doi:10.1136/bmj.e4680

PROVIDING HEALTH INFORMATION TO WOMEN

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care ◽

10.1017/s0266462301104125 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 137-145 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Cheryl A. Moyer ◽

Leilanya O. Vishnu ◽

Seema S. Sonnad

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Health Risks ◽

Hormone Replacement ◽

The United States ◽

Women's Magazines ◽

Original Research ◽

Health Coverage ◽

Medical Journals ◽

Research Studies

Objectives: We were interested in health coverage in women's magazines in the United States and how it compared with articles in medical journals, women's health interests, and women's greatest health risks.Methods: We examined 12 issues of Good Housekeeping (GH) and Woman's Day (WD) and 63 issues of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). We tallied the most common health questions of women presenting to the University of Michigan's Women's Health Resource Center (WHRC) during the same period.Results: Less than a fifth of the magazine articles dealt with health-related topics. Of those, a third dealt with diet, with the majority emphasizing weight loss rather than eating for optimal health. Few of the articles cited research studies, and even fewer included the name of the journal in which the study was published. In JAMA and NEJM, less than one-fifth of original research studies dealt with women's health topics, most commonly pregnancy-related issues, hormone replacement therapy, breast and ovarian cancer, and birth defects. At the same time, the most common requests for information at the WHRC related to pregnancy, fertility, reproductive health, and cancer.Conclusion: The topics addressed in women's magazines do not appear to coincide with the topics addressed in leading medical journals, nor with women's primary health concerns or greatest health risks. Information from women's magazines may be leading women to focus on aspects of health and health care that will not optimize risk reduction.

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A textual analysis of media framing of mass shootings: how characteristics surrounding mass shootings are framed in men's and women's magazines

10.32469/10355/62367 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Haley M. Pitto

Keyword(s):

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Textual Analysis ◽

Media Framing ◽

Women's Magazines ◽

Mass Shootings ◽

The Core ◽

Four Frames ◽

Mass Shooting ◽

Magazine Articles

The present research attempted to build upon mass shooting studies by analyzing how feature-length magazine articles focusing on these events frame the characteristics surrounding mass shootings in men's and women's health and lifestyle magazines. The researcher conducted a qualitative textual analysis of 24 randomly selected feature-length mass shootings articles in print and online issues of Esquire, Cosmopolitan, GQ and Glamour between January 2012-April 2017. The core findings of this research included how mass shootings almost always 12 under one of four frames: individual (internal) blame frames, societal (external) blame frames, profiling the shooter, and recovery and mourning. These articles also presented more complex sub-frames. The sub-frames included: symptoms suffered by the shooter, drugs, medication and counseling, identity, and stereotypes, political and institutional failures, access to firearms, military issues, "never saw it coming," slipping through the cracks, and the victims and survivors of mass shootings as well as community togetherness.

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