Barbara Ehrenreich -- Not So Pretty in Pink: The Uproar Over New Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

[salvorhardin]

Has feminism been replaced by the pink-ribbon breast cancer cult? When the House of Representatives passed the Stupak amendment, which would take abortion rights away even from women who have private insurance, the female response ranged from muted to inaudible.

A few weeks later, when the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended that regular screening mammography not start until age 50, all hell broke loose. Sheryl Crow, Whoopi Goldberg, and Olivia Newton-John raised their voices in protest; a few dozen non-boldface women picketed the Department of Health and Human Services. If you didn’t look too closely, it almost seemed as if the women’s health movement of the 1970s and 1980s had returned in full force.

Never mind that Dr. Susan Love, author of what the New York Times dubbed “the bible for women with breast cancer,” endorses the new guidelines along with leading women’s health groups like Breast Cancer Action, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the National Women’s Health Network (NWHN). For years, these groups have been warning about the excessive use of screening mammography in the U.S., which carries its own dangers and leads to no detectible lowering of breast cancer mortality relative to less mammogram-happy nations.

Nonetheless, on CNN last week, we had the unsettling spectacle of NWHN director and noted women’s health advocate Cindy Pearson speaking out for the new guidelines, while ordinary women lined up to attribute their survival from the disease to mammography. Once upon a time, grassroots women challenged the establishment by figuratively burning their bras. Now, in some masochistic perversion of feminism, they are raising their voices to yell, “Squeeze our tits!”
More: http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2009/12/not-so-pretty-in-pink.html

Great article from Barbara Ehrenreich on misplaced feminism and health care.

[Hekate]

1. KnR for Barbara Ehrenreich. Sadly it was MY Rep who actually authored an amendment to uphold Hyde...

... the existing policy restricting federal money's use for abortion, in the vain hope that this would forestall the Repubs using abortion as a wedge to turn health care reform into just another pawn in their culture wars.

I like Lois Capps, but the Repubs have proven over and over that they are not interested in any form of compromise whatsoever, and now that they are the minority in Congress they will simply halt or corrupt whatever legislation is presented by Democrats.

We let down our guard because we won the election. But the Repubs and Cons declared war on the rest of us long ago, and as far as they are concerned, this war is not over.

Hekate

[Berry Cool]

2. Thank you Barbara!

Her voice was so needed.

My favorite part: "So welcome to the Women’s Movement 2.0: Instead of the proud female symbol -- a circle on top of a cross -- we have a droopy ribbon. Instead of embracing the full spectrum of human colors -- black, brown, red, yellow, and white -- we stick to princess pink. While we used to march in protest against sexist laws and practices, now we race or walk 'for the cure.' And while we once sought full 'consciousness' of all that oppresses us, now we’re content to achieve 'awareness,' which has come to mean one thing -- dutifully baring our breasts for the annual mammogram."

[Hekate]

3. Kick for a worthwhile post

:kick:

[Celebration]

4. Love this

I find it particularly curious because the guidelines actually gave the woman more choice--rather than practically forcing mammograms at age 40, they just left the risks and benefits to be decided on an individual basis, between the woman and her doctor. Oh, that sounds so Nazi-ish :eyes:

I find the whole response weird.

[salvorhardin]

5. Yeah, it was weird to me too

On one hand, I can understand the reaction after 8 years of truly bizarre policy from the Bush administration in almost every area. I can see being suspicious. Yet if one reads past the headlines they can clearly see that's not the case here and it's actually a very sensible recommendation. It won't stop my friend who is only 42 from getting her yearly mammogram because breast cancer seems to run in her family on both sides, but for most women, the evidence is pretty clear that annual screenings before 50 just don't make a lot of sense.