Clarke J N
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Health Commun. 1999;11(1):59-74. doi: 10.1207/s15327027hc1101_4.
The meanings associated with prostate cancer were studied in contemporary mass print media. The study includes both manifest and latent content analysis of a period of approximately 2 decades, from 1974 to 1995. The manifest analysis revealed a primary emphasis on the importance of early detection. The latent analysis found that prostate cancer's presentation is gendered. Its description is embedded in themes related to masculinity, sexuality, competition, brotherhood, and machismo. This small, qualitative, and inductive study raises questions about the socially significant portrayal of the meanings of disease in the media, about the men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, have symptoms of prostate cancer, or about all men, because any man might at some time be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Stereotypical imaging could alienate men who either do not or do not want to fit into the stereotypical ideal as it is protrayed in the media. Such a portrayal also may have inplications for the potential willingness of men to engage in early detection, avail themselves of treatment, act preventatively, or become involved in lobbying for monies for research into the early prevention, detection, and treatment of prostate cancer.
在当代大众印刷媒体中对与前列腺癌相关的意义进行了研究。该研究包括对1974年至1995年约20年期间的显性和隐性内容分析。显性分析显示主要强调早期检测的重要性。隐性分析发现前列腺癌的呈现具有性别特征。其描述嵌入在与男子气概、性、竞争、兄弟情谊和大男子主义相关的主题中。这项小型的、定性的归纳研究提出了一些问题，涉及媒体中对疾病意义的具有社会重要性的描绘、已被诊断患有前列腺癌或有前列腺癌症状的男性，或者所有男性，因为任何男性在某个时候都可能被诊断患有前列腺癌。刻板印象可能会使那些不符合或不想符合媒体所描绘的刻板理想形象的男性感到疏远。这样的描绘也可能对男性参与早期检测、接受治疗、采取预防措施或参与游说为前列腺癌的早期预防、检测和治疗筹集资金的潜在意愿产生影响。
