ABSTRACT
A key pattern in the American etiology of suicide is based on gender: American men generally have a suicide rate three to four times higher than that of women. e greater risk among men is also found in nearly all nations of the world (Lester, 2000; Mergl, Koburger, Heinrichs et al., 2015; Stack, 2000; Wasserman & Stack, 2009). In the contemporary United States, the male suicide rate (20.0/100,000) is actually almost four times that of women (5.2/100,000). Men account for approximately 80 percent of all suicides (Murphy et al., 2013; Proquest, 2014). While much has been written on the gendered nature of suicide risk, there has been little systematic work on the possible role of the media in generating high risk for males. is chapter focuses on a new possible risk factor: the gendered nature of the presentation of a highly lethal suicide method, firearms, in a popular media channel: American feature films.
