The construction of male menopause in Finnish popular magazines

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the construction of male menopause by examining articles published on the topic between 1982 and 2002 in Finnish popular magazines. The main research question was how men's midlife stage was medicalized in the articles analysed. The number of articles published grew during the study period. In the articles, male menopause was initially presented as a social problem related to men's working careers but during the study period this changed as writers increasingly presented it as an illness managed by medical experts and treated with hormones. Through the whole period there were diverse opinions on whether male menopause even exists. In some articles the authors asserted that symptoms that appear with age are ‘normal’, in others testosterone medication was said to restore normal values, and sometimes the decline in testosterone was said to be normal. Symptoms associated with male menopause were mostly similar to those associated with ageing and they were presented as a consequence either of general ageing or of the decline in testosterone levels. The recommended use and duration of male hormone therapy varied in the material researched. The most quoted professional experts in the material researched were associated with the pharmaceutical industry. Based on their results the authors conclude that a process of medicalization of the male midlife stage is occurring in Finland, and that popular magazines play an important role in this process.

Keywords:

• Health consumerism
• male hormone therapy
• male menopause
• medicalization