Related Experiment Videos
Masculinity, infertility, stigma and media reports.
Kenneth Gannon1, Lesley Glover, Paul Abel
1School of Psychology, University of East London, Romford Road, London E14 4LZ, UK. k.n.gannon@uel.ac.uk
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|June 24, 2004
Summary
Media portrayals of declining sperm counts construct male infertility as a crisis, conflating it with impotence. This framing positions men as vulnerable, reinforcing restrictive notions of masculinity and health.
Area of Science:
- Sociology of Health and Illness
- Media Studies
- Men's Health
Background:
- Men in Western societies exhibit higher morbidity and mortality rates than women.
- Men are less likely to seek medical services, influenced by social factors like masculinity.
- Existing research on the social construction of male infertility is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze media representations of male infertility and masculinity.
- To investigate how newspaper accounts construct the issue of declining sperm counts.
- To explore the relationship between media discourse, male infertility, and hegemonic masculinity.
Main Methods:
- Discourse Analysis was used to examine newspaper articles.
- Focus on media accounts reporting a decline in sperm counts.
- Analysis of how infertility and masculinity are represented in the media.
Main Results:
- Media constructs fertility as being in crisis.
- Male infertility is frequently conflated with impotence in media narratives.
- Men are depicted as vulnerable and subject to uncontrollable external forces.
- Discourse employs stereotypically masculine analogies (e.g., warfare, mechanics).
Conclusions:
- Media representations align with concepts of hegemonic masculinity.
- These portrayals reinforce a narrow understanding of male bodies and health.
- Men face restricted options for perceiving and representing their health and bodies.