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For many women, twenty five years ago, breast cancer was a shameful secret. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1979, my mother chose a crack-of-dawn appointment for her daily radiation therapy. Her goal: to drive the hour to and from Boston and be back on the golf course in time to play nine holes, so nobody would suspect that she was sick.
Today, breast cancer has such a public face that The Onion ran a satirical story entitled “March Named Breast Cancer Obliviousness Month” (The Onion, 2002). It sometimes seems hard to walk a city block without encountering a parade of fund-raising posters for breast cancer research, featuring radiant women identified as breast cancer survivors. But my perception may be skewed. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002.
Most observers concur that the popularization of breast cancer has mitigated the stigma once associated with it. But in a widely cited essay written in response to her own breast cancer diagnosis, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001) argues that the contemporary culture of the disease is corrupted by patriarchal values and corporate self-interest.
Ehrenreich trains a critical lens on the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization at the forefront of the transformation of breast cancer culture. Komen collaborates with mainstream scientists, clinicians, and businesses, raising money for breast cancer research and promoting early detection. The primary fundraising arm of the Komen Foundation is the Race for the Cure,