Breast Cancer Advertising: Break the Cycle

 In class we talked a lot about breast cancer discourse and women. We discussed the evolution of breast cancer discourse, in reference to feminist era and post-feminist era. We discussed the way breast cancer discourse is developed from the medical sphere to the general public. We watched movies and analyzed advertisements to understand the breast cancer community, the way it communicates to its audience and the way the audience responds. I chose to analyze a Susan G. Komen breast cancer advertisement because of its message and the way it communicated its message. Communicating to their target, young women, that breast cancer can be prevented by having regular mammograms and persuading their audience, young women, by using patriarchal values, both of these issues were discussed in class and the moment I saw Susan G. Komen’s advertisement I wanted to dissect it to see how misleading it was.

In my analysis, I analyzed the way Susan G. Komen used patriarchal values to persuade young women that mammograms are necessary to prevent breast cancer in their health advertisement and how it impacts it’s audience, the breast cancer community, and society. I also focused on the media’s part in the communication process of health advertisements. The visual communicates that if young women choose not to take breast cancer seriously at a young age and have regular mammograms then their futures will suffer. It communicates that a promising future with a husband and children is out of reach until they deal with the present and take control over their health. The problem with this Susan G. Komen advertisement and other health advertisements targeted towards women is that they misinterpret women’s true values by assuming that all women only want to be wives, mothers, and foster families. Advertising portrays these values and beliefs because it’s what society values.  It was important to analyze this artifact to draw attention to the communication techniques the media uses to reach women in this society and whether or not it is effective and helpful.

Discussion Questions

How has looking at health through a terministic screen shaped the way we classify women as healthy based on whether or not a woman has a family?

How does the use of patriarchal values in the media and women’s negative reaction to it help understand the karios of patriarchal values and beliefs in today’s society?

How does persuading young women to have regular mammograms and persuading them to achieve self-optimization eliminate women’s choice against the dominant ideology in the medical field?