“Lessons to Learn”: Constructions of Femininity in Popular Magazine Breast Health Narratives
1 In October, which is designated Breast Cancer Awareness month, popular U.S. women’s magazines contain numerous articles, advertisements, and special features about breast health. The most prevalent format is the personal narrative. Feminists have long advocated for the inclusion of women’s lived experience, and published personal narratives about breast health have the potential to give voice to a variety of women’s [1] It is important to note that men can and do get breast cancer. However, since the focus of this analysis is on representations of breast health in magazines aimed at women, I will limit my discussion here to women and breast health. experiences. However, magazine content related to breast health is created and produced within a cultural context that typically devalues women. Within the personal narratives are themes and frames that reinforce traditional femininity, promote narrow beauty ideals, and support a potentially essentialist understanding of women’s roles as mothers. Building on a critical analysis of personal narratives about breast health I argue for a more nuanced understanding that recognizes the potential for empowerment that the inclusion of women’s lived experience provides while being critical of narrow gender constructions supported by mainstream breast health narratives.
2 Feminist theorizing about breast cancer grew out of the second-wave feminist women’s health movement, which recognized that paternalistic thinking and scientific discourse have worked to disassociate women from knowledge about our bodies as a form of control. Breasts have social and cultural significance related to motherhood and sexuality, which additionally complicates the discourses surrounding breast health. Several feminist works deconstruct the medical and mediated discourses of breast cancer to show how they are both influenced by and serve to influence perceptions of women’s bodies (Lorde; Sedgwick; Kasper and Ferguson). In her article on the mainstream rhetoric of breast cancer, Susan Yadlon states “breast cancer discourse not only emerges from ideological assumptions but performs cultural work as well” (645). Feminist media critics have analyzed the importance of the media in creating and maintaining stereotypes of femininity (Kilbourne). Media are important sites for creating “representations of the social world, images, descriptions, explanations and frames for understanding how the world is” (Hall 90). Many of the breast health articles and images intentionally and unintentionally reinforce gender stereotypes.
3 Contemporary narratives of breast health should be understood within the context of the history of published writing about breast cancer. Written references to breast cancer appear as early as Egyptian papyrus (Lerner). Until the 1960s the majority of the published writing about breast cancer came primarily from the medical field. In the 1960s some women, mainly outside of the medical field, responded to marginalization caused by the prevailing medical philosophies of breast health by writing and publishing their own experiences. Many of the published narratives focused on providing other women with information about negotiating breast health concerns. The new narratives of breast cancer questioned surgeons’ authority, revealed the uncertainty regarding treatment effectiveness, and questioned male doctors dictating to female patients. Doctors and many patients did not easily accept the philosophy that breast cancer treatment should be decided by personal choice. Surgeons who were not used to having their authority challenged were not happy to be confronted by patients who had read about breast cancer in a magazine or popular press book. However, women’s personal narratives related to breast health resonated with the readers of women’s magazines, and they became an established and prominent feature.
4 Women-focused print magazines remain a prominent source of messages and images regarding breast health. Numerous studies have documented the importance of popular media outlets as a source of health information (Moyer et al.; Metsch et al; Covello and Peters). Henderson and Kitzinger found that women often used the media to explain or justify their analysis of breast health. In a study of preferences for receiving breast health information among Hispanic women age 35 or older, Oetzel et al. found that some women actually preferred mass media outlets to expert sources. However, the traditional print format magazine is struggling and in the midst of major changes. Despite challenges to traditional magazine publishing and encroachment by electronic sources a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation Poll found that 64% of the respondents had used print magazines as a source of health information in the past 12 months. In a study published in 2008, Tian and Robinson found that the Internet is not simply replacing traditional media channels such as magazines as a source of health information, rather that both sources are being used and most often in a complementary fashion.
5 This analysis examines articles and special features about breast health that appeared in U.S. women’s magazines October issues in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The magazines selected includes magazines aimed at older women (Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook), younger women (Glamour, Self), women of color (Ebony, Essence, Latina), lesbians (Curve), and general women’s audience (O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple). In total forty-four magazines were reviewed to identify articles about breast cancer. The articles were read and coded based on coding categories developed from previous research and a review of the literature. Articles were considered to be personal narratives if the main focus of the article is people’s lived experience with breast health. This includes autobiographical pieces as well as articles told to professional writers and articles written by friends or relatives. A total of thirty-two articles were included.