Framing women's health with a sense-making approach: magazine coverage of breast cancer and implants

Abstract

This study examined how women's magazines framed breast cancer and silicone implants to determine whether they used a sense-making framework. Sense-making calls for existing gaps to be closed between what one group views as real and what another group experiences (Parrott, 1996). Analysis included 86 articles on cancer and implants published in four women's magazines from 1990 to 1997. Overall findings suggest that women's magazines used a sense-making approach to cancer coverage, framing the disease in terms of coping with its effects, personal experiences, and risk factors. Themes in implant articles pertained to economic concerns of the medical industry and media.