Women's Studies 2244 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Bourgeoisie, Mental Disorder, Reductionism

• School: Western University
• Department: Women's Studies
• Course: Women's Studies 2244
• Professor: Jessica Polzer

Document Summary

Lecture 2 the medicalization of female sexuality. Medicalization: a process that organizes a broad and ever growing range of behaviors and aspects of everyday life into categories of health and illness : occurs at conceptual and institutional levels , conceptual > naming and framing. Institutional > policies, practices: social and political process. Obscure: increased knowledge of female sexual anatomy, but history ahs shown how new medical and technological diagnostics and treatments can take on the lives of their own and obscure social factors that are associated with complaints and conditions. Depoliticize: the source of women"s sexual problems is overtly depoliticized, which women"s sexual problems varies by race, age, marital status, history of sexual abuse, may be the biggest danger of medicalization. Transform: because of their compelling visuals and dramatic appeal, advertisements for sexuopharmaceutical"s may play an influential role in shaping the public"s understanding of sexual problems and creating demand for new drugs as solutions.