2008 Woodie Awards
Raising awareness for breast cancer
Donna O'Neill
Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: News
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, events concerning this issue are announced in some classes, but for some professors in the Women's Studies department, raising awareness for breast cancer isn't just a one month task; they add sections specifically about breast cancer and how the environment can cause it into their curriculums.
"The Women's Studies department has information related to breast health and breast cancer and cancer prevention embedded in the curriculum," said office assistant for the Women's Studies Department Laura Stolle.
Many of the professors of the Introduction to Women's Studies courses, including Beth Bartlett, have a section for women's heath issues and breast cancer.
"We spend one class session on [breast cancer] when we are discussing health issues affecting women," said Bartlett. "Each time I have taught it I have brought in a breast cancer survivor to tell her story."
Women's Studies professor Deborah Plechner, who also teaches Introduction to Women's Studies, focuses on health issues women face for a week.
"I think the goal of the course discussion on women and health is meant to educate students about women's health issues, to help them think about how these issues are framed and dealt with in our society and how these issues relate to their own lives," said Plechner.
Both Bartlett and Plechner said that they spend time discussing breast cancer because there are topicswithin the issue of breast cancer that aren't often brought to attention.
"There are always things people don't know. They don't know that birth control pills are one of the causes of breast cancer," Bartlett said. "Many also don't know men can get breast cancer."
Plechner said that students find it surprising "that cancer is not the leading cause of death for women and that even when looking at deaths by cancer for women, breast cancer is not the leading type of cancer that women die from."
In Plechner's class discussions, she brings up topics about the critique of the commercialization and media representation of breast cancer and why there is an emphasis on breast cancer as a genetically-inherited disease, rather than why there is no action to devoting energy and resources to research and prevention strategies focused on possible environmental causes of breast cancer.
"Women are being encouraged to 'fight' breast cancer by buying a growing variety of 'pink' consumer products that may have nothing to do with health," said Plechner.
Although a day is spent on breast cancer itself in Bartlett's course, she spends a week discussing breast cancer in Ecofeminism, which addresses the effects of environmental toxins as the major cause of breast cancer and its effects of degradation on the health of women's bodies.
"Certainly people have been led to believe that the leading cause of cancer is genetic, whereas only about 10 to 20 percent-and the 20 percent is a high estimate-of breast cancer is genetically linked," Bartlett said, "so they don't even think of environmental causes."
Bartlett said that people contribute to the toxins that create breast cancer in everyday actions by using bleached paper products, bleached flour and flour products and bleach itself.
She also said that some of the highest cancer rates are in agricultural communities because of the toxins used in the production of food. Bartlett tells her students to be aware of the industrial practices in their communities, as well as local, state, national and international policies regarding environmental protection, because the best way to prevent breast cancer is to reduce the environmental toxins that cause the disease.
"Those toxins get into the water supply and contaminate surrounding communities for hundreds of miles," Bartlett said. "They don't realize that they can get breast cancer at their age. This is increasing with the rise in environmentally caused breast cancer."
While Bartlett mostly tries to raise her students' awareness of the environmental causes of breast cancer, she doesn't discourage them from having regular breast exams.
"I emphasize that such measures are only effective after the fact. They do nothing to prevent breast cancer," she said. "I urge students to stop focusing so much on detecting breast cancer and how to cure it, but rather on how to prevent it through environmental action."
Carolyn Dillman, program coordinator for the St. Luke's Regional Breast Center, said that from the age of 20, women should start performing monthly breast self-exams along with clinical exams.
"Younger women should have clinical breast exams. The frequency should be determined by their primary care provider," Dillman said. "Of course, if you are at higher risk or have a strong family history, then screening mammograms may begin at an earlier age for you."
The St. Luke's Regional Breast Center offers a more recent technology for breast cancer screenings.
"Digital mammography is most beneficial for women under 50, women with dense breasts of any age and those women who are pre- and peri-menopausal," according to the St. Luke's Regional Breast Center web site.
"The Women's Studies department has information related to breast health and breast cancer and cancer prevention embedded in the curriculum," said office assistant for the Women's Studies Department Laura Stolle.
Many of the professors of the Introduction to Women's Studies courses, including Beth Bartlett, have a section for women's heath issues and breast cancer.
"We spend one class session on [breast cancer] when we are discussing health issues affecting women," said Bartlett. "Each time I have taught it I have brought in a breast cancer survivor to tell her story."
Women's Studies professor Deborah Plechner, who also teaches Introduction to Women's Studies, focuses on health issues women face for a week.
"I think the goal of the course discussion on women and health is meant to educate students about women's health issues, to help them think about how these issues are framed and dealt with in our society and how these issues relate to their own lives," said Plechner.
Both Bartlett and Plechner said that they spend time discussing breast cancer because there are topicswithin the issue of breast cancer that aren't often brought to attention.
"There are always things people don't know. They don't know that birth control pills are one of the causes of breast cancer," Bartlett said. "Many also don't know men can get breast cancer."
Plechner said that students find it surprising "that cancer is not the leading cause of death for women and that even when looking at deaths by cancer for women, breast cancer is not the leading type of cancer that women die from."
In Plechner's class discussions, she brings up topics about the critique of the commercialization and media representation of breast cancer and why there is an emphasis on breast cancer as a genetically-inherited disease, rather than why there is no action to devoting energy and resources to research and prevention strategies focused on possible environmental causes of breast cancer.
"Women are being encouraged to 'fight' breast cancer by buying a growing variety of 'pink' consumer products that may have nothing to do with health," said Plechner.
Although a day is spent on breast cancer itself in Bartlett's course, she spends a week discussing breast cancer in Ecofeminism, which addresses the effects of environmental toxins as the major cause of breast cancer and its effects of degradation on the health of women's bodies.
"Certainly people have been led to believe that the leading cause of cancer is genetic, whereas only about 10 to 20 percent-and the 20 percent is a high estimate-of breast cancer is genetically linked," Bartlett said, "so they don't even think of environmental causes."
Bartlett said that people contribute to the toxins that create breast cancer in everyday actions by using bleached paper products, bleached flour and flour products and bleach itself.
She also said that some of the highest cancer rates are in agricultural communities because of the toxins used in the production of food. Bartlett tells her students to be aware of the industrial practices in their communities, as well as local, state, national and international policies regarding environmental protection, because the best way to prevent breast cancer is to reduce the environmental toxins that cause the disease.
"Those toxins get into the water supply and contaminate surrounding communities for hundreds of miles," Bartlett said. "They don't realize that they can get breast cancer at their age. This is increasing with the rise in environmentally caused breast cancer."
While Bartlett mostly tries to raise her students' awareness of the environmental causes of breast cancer, she doesn't discourage them from having regular breast exams.
"I emphasize that such measures are only effective after the fact. They do nothing to prevent breast cancer," she said. "I urge students to stop focusing so much on detecting breast cancer and how to cure it, but rather on how to prevent it through environmental action."
Carolyn Dillman, program coordinator for the St. Luke's Regional Breast Center, said that from the age of 20, women should start performing monthly breast self-exams along with clinical exams.
"Younger women should have clinical breast exams. The frequency should be determined by their primary care provider," Dillman said. "Of course, if you are at higher risk or have a strong family history, then screening mammograms may begin at an earlier age for you."
The St. Luke's Regional Breast Center offers a more recent technology for breast cancer screenings.
"Digital mammography is most beneficial for women under 50, women with dense breasts of any age and those women who are pre- and peri-menopausal," according to the St. Luke's Regional Breast Center web site.
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