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Gendering the migraine market: Do representations of illness matter?

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  • Kempner, Joanna

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Kempner, Joanna, 2006. "Gendering the migraine market: Do representations of illness matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 1986-1997, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:8:p:1986-1997
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Metzl, Jonathan M. & Angel, Joni, 2004. "Assessing the impact of SSRI antidepressants on popular notions of women's depressive illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 577-584, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gross, Christiane & Schübel, Thomas & Hoffmann, Rasmus, 2015. "Picking up the pieces—Applying the DISEASE FILTER to health data," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(4), pages 549-557.
    2. Bila, Blandine & Egrot, Marc, 2009. "Gender asymmetry in healthcare-facility attendance of people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 854-861, September.
    3. Fisher, Jill A. & Cottingham, Marci D. & Kalbaugh, Corey A., 2015. "Peering into the pharmaceutical “pipeline”: Investigational drugs, clinical trials, and industry priorities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 322-330.

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