(24-01-2010, 02:02 AM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: (21-01-2010, 12:11 PM)El Gordo Wrote: 
Am just reading a brilliant and thought-provoking new book, "Smile Or Die" (Barbara Ehrenreich - "How Positive Thinking Fooled America & The World"). The author is a breast cancer 'survivor' who rails against the "pink ribbon culture" and the way it, in her view, infantilises women and trivialises the disease. Why are we not angry about it, she asks? Why are we not demanding an answer to the fact that in industrialised countries, breast cancer has increased an astonishing 1% every year since the early 1950s?
Are you sure about this? I'd not heard anything of that sort so did a quick bit of Googling and can't verify those figures.
I've run in two breast cancer awareness/fundraiser events and the enormous popularity of them and the clear emotion on show certainly seemed very positive to me.
Nothing wrong with being positive, of course, but it doesn't cure the disease, or delay the consequences, despite popular belief. It also puts pressure on women not to express justifiable outrage or misery. It's also a highly profitable industry.
The figures were quoted in the book. Will look it up later.
