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Description
Since its introduction 1991, the pink ribbon and even the color pink itself have become a ubiquitous symbol for breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbon paraphernalia saturate shopping malls, billboards, magazines, television, and other entertainment venues. Thousands of everyday products have been produced in special "pink ribbon" editions, with some proceeds going to various awareness foundations. The pervasiveness of the pink ribbon campaign leads many people to believe that the fight against breast cancer is progressing, when in truth it's barely begun. In this compelling and provocative work, Gayle Sulik shows that although this 'pink ribbon culture' has brought breast cancer advocacy much attention, it has not had the desired effect of improving women's health. It may, in fact, have done the opposite. Breast cancer is not becoming less prevalent, nor are we gaining a better understanding of its' multifaceted causes. Every year, there are nearly 200,000 new cases of breast cancer, and 40,000 more women die from the disease; yet, there are still no guaranteed modes of prevention or treatment. Based on eight years of ethnographic observation, analysis of advertisements and breast cancer awareness campaigns, and hundreds of interviews with those affected by the disease, Pink Ribbon Blues examines the hidden costs of the pink ribbon as an industry. More importantly, though, it analyzes the social impact on women living with breast cancer-- the stereotypes and stigmas they face when their experience doesn't fit the idealized portrayals of breast cancer survivors. Sulik discusses the organizations that are making a real difference, analyzing their alternative policies and practices in hopes to provide a new agenda for the future.
