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Examining Media Representations: Benefits for Health Psychology

Health psychology has tended to undervalue analyses of media representations of health, disease and illness. In this article I argue that critical approaches to media texts and images are valuable for health psychologists because: (1) individuals are socially located and gain their beliefs about health and illness from the discourses and constructions that are available to them; (2) media representations of health, illness and disease produce and reproduce meaning concerning health and illness, for lay people and professionals alike; and (3) media representations mediate individuals’ lived experiences. These arguments are illustrated throughout with examples from critical and feminist research on representations of women, menopause and midlife. I go on to argue that critical approaches are particularly important in analysing media representations because they explicitly examine the social, cultural and political context of health and illness. Critical approaches increase awareness of control and power issues surrounding dominant representations and also provide possibilities for change and resistance.