Pink Ribbons, Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy
Samantha King
Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota Press 2006

There was great excitement on August 23rd when the CBC mid-afternoon news included a short item on the publication of this book. Although the item didn't air on the six o'clock news, it was enough to jog us into ordering a copy. The book is slim but it packs a punch. Concentrating on the U.S. situation, King is highly critical of the ways in which corporate America, in tune with mainstream breast cancer organizations and funders (e.g., the Komen Foundation and Avon's Breast Cancer Crusade), have defined the territory. As she says in her introduction, " ... research on early detection and treatment has become entrenched ...[and] clinical researchers, oncologists, drug companies, and equipment manufacturers at the heart of the cancer establishment have much to lose in terms of money and prestige if the tide were to turn away from the search for better therapies" (p. xix).

In short, prevention of breast cancer is a hard sell.

In short but dense chapters, King discusses the rise in pink ribbon causes (more every day and no end in sight), the prevalent emphasis on walking and running to raise money, and "the culture of survivorship and the tyranny of cheerfulness." (There are also chapters on the history of the U.S. stamp supporting breast cancer research, and the export of campaigns to "cure" breast cancer to countries where other diseases, e.g., AIDS and malaria, are more of a problem.) She makes the point that breast cancer is, by and large, erroneously viewed as a disease of upbeat and fit young, white, middle-class women.

Inspired by Audre Lord, Samantha King would like us to move beyond "the paradigm that frames women with cancer as either passive victims or heroic individuals." She urges us to follow Lord's advice to "channel personal sensations into political concerns and towards the broader social struggles of which breast cancer is just one part."

The only drawback to this book is the dense academic language which may put some readers off. Here's a sample sentence: "While the development of cause marketing technologies represents an attempt to ascertain and measure Ôemerging customer demands for "higher order attributes,'" that is, to find ways to satisfy consumer aspirations to be engaged and generous citizens, such technologies simultaneously constitute marketers as arbiters of ethical citizenship and civic virtue."

The book can be obtained on loan from the BCAM office.

J.O'L.C.