November 28, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women’s Health
By Gayle A. Sulik
Gayle A. Sulik, a medical sociologist, says that pink-ribbon drives to promote attention to breast cancer are not effective in combating the disease, but instead divert attention way from the fact that the ailment is a public-health concern.
Based on eight years of observations, analysis of breast-cancer advertisements and awareness campaigns, and interviews with hundreds of breast-cancer experts, Ms. Sulik concludes that for all the coverage breast cancer receives, a cure still remains elusive and jumps in survival rates have been modest at best.
She is particularly critical of the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which organizes walks and races that draw thousands of participants.
Ms. Sulik writes that the organization is responsible for helping to create the image of breast-cancer advocacy as a single, united movement and marginalizes the work of community groups. She also criticizes the organization for accepting certain types of corporate support—especially from drug companies. Ms. Sulik writes, “In addition to promoting good will, public relations, and charitable tax deductions, the branding of breast cancer maintains the status of breast cancer as a social problem, encourages pink consumption, and sustains the brand, its audience, and its primary associations.”
Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016; http://www.oup.com; 402 pages; $29.95; ISBN 978-0-19-974045-1.
