Being female: the portrayal of women's health in print media

In this article, we examine the portrayal of women's health issues in two of Melbourne's print media: The Age and the Herald Sun. In particular, we aim to examine the patterns of coverage of women's health and the underlying message in articles on women's health issues. We employed an unobtrusive method, and the study was conducted over a three-month period: May to July 1998. We found that many of the articles and public reactions centred on women and reproduction. This implies that women are still seen in relation to their reproductive role in Australian society. In addition, there are many issues regarding women and their health missing from the media's publication during the research period. The message emerging from the analysis implies that if women do not fit into the "ideal women" framework of the society, their health needs are given little attention by the print media and, therefore, their health is likely to suffer. This can be interpreted as one form of women's oppression in Australian society.