Consuming contraceptive control: gendered distinctions in web-based contraceptive advertising

There are over a hundred contraceptives currently on the market in the USA. In this paper, we present a discourse analysis of the stand-alone websites for 43 contraceptives in an effort to understand what contraceptive manufacturers are selling consumers along with their products. Manufacturers tailor marketing messages to promote conventional sex and gender norms using a scientific discourse. In particular, these products appropriate feminist ideals about independence and bodily integrity and promise consumers control and choice over procreation and sexual health, while existing within a larger context of medical surveillance in a patriarchal and capitalist culture.