Medicalization and Teen Girls' Bodies in the Gardasil Cervical Cancer Vaccine Campaign

Abstract

To explore the impacts of health advertising campaigns on media consumers' perceptions of their health and bodies, I applied the concept of medicalization to a current health media campaign about a cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil. Literature about medicalization, women's reception of body images, and girl-centered communication studies framed the study. Thirty-nine teens from various backgrounds, aged between fourteen and seventeen years old, were interviewed in six states. Individual and dyad interviews and focus groups helped obtain thick, rich details. A grounded theory approach allowed previously unexplored themes to emerge. Findings suggest that girls believe that media messages about their sexual health—such as the Gardasil TV commercial—instruct them as to health topics they should be concerned about, the social rules that girls should follow—particularly in how, when, and with whom they can discuss sexual health—and how the practice of sex intersects with morality in personal and peer identity formation. Among other implications, this study suggests how campaign designers can re-situate health communication with teen girls. The study also suggests the importance of seeing medicalization effects within an intersectional framework of race, class, and parenthood status.

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