Gendered health technologies: the medicalisation of sexuality and the embodiment of reproduction

My thesis explores the medicalisation of male and female bodies in respect of sexuality and reproduction. I investigate the complex interaction of gender and sexuality in relation to health technologies such as Viagra, Flibanserin, Vasalgel and female contraceptive technologies among others. I mainly focus on heterosexual men and women in this thesis. I examine how men’s health initiatives and advertising campaigns seek to overcome the reluctance of men to request medical help. I analyse the way that gender is represented and reconstituted in advertisements while considering the ways that scientists are researching men’s reproductive bodies in relation to sperm quality. If reliable male contraceptive technologies are developed, could this be a game-changer and take some of the contraceptive burden off women? How much influence does the pharmaceutical industry have in determining what constitutes sexual dysfunction? Do pharmaceutical solutions for sexual dysfunction empower or disempower men and women? I draw on general practitioner interviews, gendered advertising analysis and feminist theory literature to examine these research questions