Women's Studies 2244 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Corporatization, Social Forces, Neoliberalism
28 Aug 2020
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Womens Studies 2244
Reading Note
The Emergence of Cause-Related Marketing and the Corporatization of the Breast
Cancer Movement – King
- Very large “blame-the-victim” mentality seen in the breast-cancer establishment.
- Shift in viewpoint of breast cancer; went from being a self-induced stigmatized
disease / individual tragedy to an enriching/affirming experience during which
women with breast cancer aren’t “patient”, but rather, always survivors.
o How did this happen?
▪ Breast-cancer activism, advocacy groups, people speaking out about
their diagnosis to destigmatize the disease, women’s health
movement encouraging women to question their doctors and the
patriarchal practices used in the medical-industrial complex, etc.
▪ Became a political movement.
• NABCO + NBCC were central to this movement, and as a result
of their campaigning, the federal government increased its
funding towards the disease.
• Breast-cancer activists now play a larger role in research
funding decisions / agenda setting.
- This article explores how breast cancer-directed corporate philanthropy has shaped
the emergence of the breast cancer survivor as a category of identification, and the
effects of this configuration on the ways that the “problem of breast cancer” is
understood and responded to.
- Breast cancer research / awareness is an attractive cause for corporations to market
/ campaign for, with the intent of attracting more female consumers.
- The fight against the disease predominantly takes place on the terrain of
science/medicine, which is funded through corporate philanthropy.
o An analysis of breast-cancer directed corporate philanthropy / cause-related
marketing is crucial in understanding the cultural appeal of breast cancer as
an issue for public concern in the present moment, and to identifying those
“realities of life” threats to the status quo that are obscured by the
widespread determination to look only on the bright side of the disease.
- One reason that cause-related marketing and corporate philanthropic events for
breast cancer are so highly attractive to females is because it helps shape an
“identity” (breast-cancer survivor, citizen volunteer, etc.) and produces knowledge /
truths about breast cancer and how it should best be responded to.
- The association seen between volunteerism and freedom in US culture marks a shift
towards a different form of governing, and the emergence of an alternatively
constituted state.
Document Summary
The emergence of cause-related marketing and the corporatization of the breast. Shift in viewpoint of breast cancer; went from being a self-induced stigmatized disease / individual tragedy to an enriching/affirming experience during which. This article explores how breast cancer-directed corporate philanthropy has shaped the emergence of the breast cancer survivor as a category of identification, and the effects of this configuration on the ways that the problem of breast cancer is. Breast cancer research / awareness is an attractive cause for corporations to market understood and responded to. / campaign for, with the intent of attracting more female consumers. Realities of life threats to the status quo that are obscured by the widespread determination to look only on the bright side of the disease. One reason that cause-related marketing and corporate philanthropic events for breast cancer are so highly attractive to females is because it helps shape an.
