Suicide in Movies: Gender and Choice of Suicide Method (IN: Suicide and the Creative Arts, edited by S Stack & D Lester)

This chapter draws attention to an important agent of socialization to gender roles – the mass media. In particular, it is contended women & men learn about gendered suicide methods in the narratives of films. Its central hypothesis is that method of suicide is a cultural & gendered idiom, which is learned & reflected in feature films. For example, the violent suicide methods used by men in film correspond to the patterns in society. Strengths & limitations of this study are discussed as well as the policy implications relating to gun control. (15 refs.)