This week, our readings and videos focused on the women’s health issue of breast cancer. Breast cancer is a very gendered disease; while it affects men as well as women, its prevalence is much higher in women, and today’s campaigns to raise funds for research market breast cancer predominantly as a women’s issue. This is connected to the historical origins of beast cancer awareness programs, discussed in Barbara Ley’s “The Cultural Politics of Sisterhood”. In the past, organizations focusing on breast cancer were spurred by feminist activism and were more political in nature. In 1999, the Breast Cancer Fund (as a coalition) wrote a letter to President Bill Clinton and to presidential candidates G. W. Bush, B. Bradley, and Al Gore, calling for them to remedy the ‘nation’s failure’ to address possible environmental causes of the disease/breast cancer prevention (Ley 2009). The approach by women at the time was one of anger and represented a need for social, economic, and political change. These eco-feminists used masculine and military metaphors like the words ‘battles’ and ‘fight’ when speaking about breast cancer to win the support of Congress, male elected officials, and the overall public, but promoted a feminist rhetoric to make the case for environmental research (Ley 2009). This past activism is much different than the ‘mainstream breast cancer culture’ seen today. Breast cancer is now symbolized by the ‘pink ribbon’, sisterhood, ‘survivor stories’, and optimism. To promote research, organizations and companies host runs, sell pink items, and market promotions to raise money for ‘the cure’. 

These differences signal a major shift in the actions and perceptions surrounding breast cancer. While the movement still places women at the center of this health issue, the new mainstream approach takes this a step further by softening the idea of the disease by making it more ‘feminine’, frou-frou, and pink. Instead of a campaign sparked by rage and dissatisfaction at political inactivity to find a cure, the message promoted now is idealized by optimism, positivity, feminine strength, and sisterhood support. In addition to the un-politicizing of breast cancer awareness and research, efforts today to raise funds take on more capitalist motivations; breast cancer is being used in a way as to boost profits for a company’s products, or to attempt to alter the image of a group, product, or corporation. The language of cancer being a ‘battle’ has also been taken a step further, referring to women who are now cancer-free as ‘survivors’ or ‘warriors’, fighting the disease as if it was a terrorist in the body.

Many of these changes have adverse effects on the breast cancer movement. The language and discourse emphasizing optimism and survivorship silences the unpleasantness and pain of experiencing breast cancer, and it fosters an idea that it is each woman’s problemto have the disease (as if they themselves are to blame), or that dying due to breast cancer represents failure. The push for research prioritizes looking for a solve-all cure, rather than focusing on prevention; contrary to popular belief, only 5% of the funds raised for research even study the effects of the environment on the body in regard to breast cancer (Pool 2011). While programs like Think Before You Pink attempt to expose capitalist exploitation of breast cancer (and redirect marketing/support for avenues that actually promote true research and activism), cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and car companies profit incredibly off of ‘pink’ campaigns while donating very little to the cause itself. Breast cancer, once a disease instigating feminist political rage and outcry for research pointed at environmental causes, has unfortunately now become normalized as a ‘soft and girly’ movement that is symbolized by pink ribbons and dollar signs.

References

Ley, Barbara. 2009. “The Cultural Politics of Sisterhood.” In From Pink to Green, by Barbara Ley.

2011. Pink Ribbons, Inc.Directed by National Film Board of Canada Production. Performed by Lea Pool.