Gender as a «niche»: the case of pharmaceutical advertising

Abstract

From a construction of scientific knowledge perspective, we consider the issues previously reviewed by other authors on how pharmaceutical companies commercialise their products to the point of bordering on the «generation» or «reinvention» of «illnesses». Women’s life processes, as well as those related to gender stereotypes, are particularly vulnerable as they form market niches for pharmaceutical industry. This article considers medicalisation as a business that uses publicity and marketing strategies to fulfill its objectives; strategies that are based on the differences existing between women and men and which would, amongst other consequences, affect the users’ assimilation of the aforementioned processes as «illnesses». This is achieved with the support of the gender system.

Keywords

• género
• publicidad
• fármacos
• salud pública