Has Komen ‘lost the brand’?

Don’t worry, you’re not really on Komen’s website

A tongue in cheek guest post here from Ronnie, a born satirist. The thinking being that satire might be able to get to the heart of a serious matter, in a way that more straightforward social critiques sometimes don’t. 

“First, a word of explanation may be necessary for our readers not based in the United States. ‘Komen’ in this post is ‘Susan G. Komen for the Cure’ - the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the United States, but one that has been criticized for its use of donor funds, as well as its choice of sponsor affiliations and its role in commercial cause marketing. In early 2012 Komen took a controversial decision to cut its funding of Planned Parenthood, a decision widely seen as politically biased and revealing Komen’s close association with the Republican Party. The decision was reversed within a few days, but the damage to Komen’s reputation is considered by many to be serious, permanent and possibly final.

Over here in Liverpool, I’d heard of Komen, of course. But my interest was particularly piqued when a British newspaper, The Guardian, started reporting in detail on the Planned Parenthood issue, quoting our friend Gayle Sulik, talking about pink culture organisations in general, and Komen and its recent difficulties in particular:

‘Komen is the largest and is held up as the gold standard. But it is just part of it,’ she said. ‘There’s the conflict of interest, with regard to the companies associated with pharma and diagnostic tools, who stand to benefit from treatment. Then ‘pinkwash’, where products might be carcinogenic, to unhealthy products like M&Ms. I’ve even heard of Pub Crawls for the Cure. It’s part of the general culture.’

Gayle Sulik, sociologist and author of ‘Pink Ribbon Blues’, said pinkwashing is only the beginning of how ‘breast cancer culture’ undermines women’s health. Sulik, a researcher at the University at Albany Department of Women’s Studies said that the culture has caused a split in advocacy groups between those focussed on awareness and education, like Komen, and others.

‘Komen is under investigation by the public. So far I don’t see the public being very forgiving. There is so much product placement, so many huge events,’ said Sulik. ‘It will be interesting to see what happens next.’

So then, on with our tale. Let’s see what might have happened next…

It all comes back

November 2007, picking Sarah up from hospital after her oopherectomy

Today’s guest blog, from guest Editor, Ronnie, picks up on Barbara Ehrenreich’s classic article ‘Welcome to Cancerland’. This one’s about ‘Carerland.’ It’s right next door.

So, it’s Monday evening, this week. Sarah’s just gone out boxing and the phone goes. It’s the hospital, offering Sarah a cancellation slot for her next surgery, this Thursday. ‘Do you think she’ll take it?’ I’m asked. ‘Well, I think she’ll hit the roof, blame me for the short notice, stomp around the house for a few minutes, and then agree it’s probably best to get it done now,’ I tell her. And an hour or so later, this scenario plays out, more or less precisely. Sarah takes the appointment, and immediately begins her blog about it, published on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning for me, I’m out on what’s becoming my regular run. From our house, ten minutes down to Sefton Park, once round the park, twenty minutes or so, then back up to our house – bit more than ten minutes, mostly uphill. Monday morning I’d skipped round this. But Tuesday’s different. In the end, my times are pretty much the same. But there’s a heaviness in my legs and in my heart. Skipping it isn’t. And half way round I realise I’m running through previous preparations for surgery, previous waiting rooms. And it all comes back. Welcome to Carerland.

The Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead, Sefton Park, Liverpool, 2010

Guest editor Ronnie, with the final round up of our blog-a-day for October.

In the old Celtic calendar, the end of October marked the end of the year. All the harvest is in, the nights are darkling for winter. And they would celebrate with the ancient feast of Samhain. We still celebrate this day. We are celebrating it this weekend. Many of us call it ‘Halloween’. But also, many of us know it as ‘The Day of the Dead’. And here too, we remember those we have lost. And we name them:

Audre Lorde

JaneRA

Deidre

Linda McCartney

Dusty Springfield

Dina Rabinovitch

Jo Spence

Iris Berg

And thousands and thousands of other women who died too soon, because of breast cancer. We honour their memories and we celebrate their lives. On this Day of the Dead.

All of this month, with the help of our friends, we have been doing everything we could think of to change the conversation, and raise awareness about the reality of breast cancer.

A Universal Declaration of Human Might

At Home on the Earth, Gemma Jerome

Today’s post is written by a relatively new friend, Gemma Jerome. Gemma is an environmentalist, an academic, a social entrepreneur, a gardener, a walker in the hills, a bicycle repairer and so much more. I gave Gemma the vaguest of briefs, to write me ‘something around the environment and breast cancer prevention’. And what I got was this magnificent polemic. We said we’d be getting more political this week. Because people are reading these blogs, and following the links to the information and science, and asking ‘What can we do?’ Well read this. Then let’s decide where we take it next. 

“Here I am in the Yorkshire Dales, heading in to Malham Cove. Through this great tumble of debris of a bygone age, we felt like intrepid explorers setting out on a journey of discovery. Our feet, nimble on the paths of our towns and cities, now stumbled on the rocks unpredictably placed beneath us. I had an overwhelming feeling of how small I was in this landscape, and above all, how beautiful things are when you just let them be.

The landscapes within me: As director of my own social enterprise, At Home on the Earth, I have had the pleasure of working with Sarah and Ronnie. Thanks to  their unique approach to values-led business planning, I was able to locate my business ethically and emotionally. In this way Sarah and Ronnie stood with me at the top of the hill and side by side we read the moral compass. Through reflection we are able to set off in a new direction, or even the same direction but with a renewed sense of purpose. This is what they mean by ‘a sense of place’.

I now know I am emotionally driven by the possibilities of how we could live differently

Three weeks in: Open your eyes

What we make makes us, the allotment harvest

It’s guest editor Ronnie again, for another weekly round up.

Well, we’re getting kind of used to this now. I get up and post the day’s blog, then Tweet and Facebook it. Before we go about whatever the business of that day might be. Then, by the afternoon of each day, we’re thinking about tomorrow’s blog. By the evening, final editing or writing if it needs any. At the same time watching that day’s and other recent blogs, responding to comments and watching how the conversations and statistics are going. And having a life. I mean, Sarah did have a rough plan for what was going where and who was writing what, at the beginning of the month. But we’re only vaguely guided by that now, as we respond to real life and the conversations the posts are helping to create.

This week began with something surprising, a photo of Sarah boxing. ‘I am ready’ finds her in a Boxing Club working up the courage to get into the ring for the first time, and then taking real pleasure in something she never even thought she’d want to do. Then boxing being added to the range of physical activities that ‘help me not get depressed…and help reduce my risk of recurrence of breast cancer’.

Tuesday morning found me boxing in the same club, also for the first time. And also doing a risky guest post, of jokes about breast cancer. ‘This one’ll either fly or fail’. I said as I Tweeted about ‘Bored of cancer’ Fortunately, several people with even more experience of the kinds of hospitals and waiting rooms I’m so bored of, thought it was funny. ‘Ha! Wait till you get to 11 years and counting’, said Julie Short.

Tuesday evening, we did a gig, ‘Women at The Brink’