Breast Cancer Donor Alert
The Morning Call by Tim Darragh, October 1, 2011
Since the early 1990s, charities raising money for breast cancer have proliferated. At the same time, the amount of money raised through cause-related marketing, where charitable donations are connected to product sales, grew more than 10-fold. Gayle Sulik, author of “Pink Ribbon Blues,” a critique of the breast cancer awareness industry, called the billions spent annually on breast cancer-related events an eye-opener, considering that the National Cancer Institute’s entire annual budget is a little more than $5 billion.
Komen’s Pink Ribbons Raise Green, and Questions
USA Today by Liz Szabo, July 18, 2011
But some breast cancer survivors said they were surprised to see Brinker recently on the Home Shopping Network selling perfume. A growing number of women complain of “pink fatigue” and are uncomfortable with the idea of commercializing breast cancer, says Gayle Sulik, author of the new book Pink Ribbon Blues. There’s even a blog, komenwatch.org, that polices Komen’s activities.
Sexing Up the Fundraising Effort; A Cervical Cancer Awareness Campaign Asking Women to Trim their Pubic Hair into Creative Designs is Raising a Few Eyebrows
The Globe and Mail (Canada) by Carly Weeks, July 1, 2011
A growing number of charitable organizations are using gimmicks . . . to attract attention to their cause, such as “I Heart Boobies” bracelets to promote breast cancer awareness or mustaches for prostate cancer. Gayle Sulik, a U.S.-based researcher and author of Pink Ribbon Blues, questions the sexualization and role of corporations in breast cancer charities. . . The use of lighthearted messages and sexual innuendo creates a muted version of awareness, exploits women’s bodies and ignores the devastating impact cancer has on individuals and their families, Dr. Sulik argues. “In short, I don’t think that using trivializing strategies to increase visibility or funding is a viable approach in the long run for any disease,” she said in an e-mail.
“Thinking Before Pinking” With Gayle Sulik
The Cancer Show
Williamsport Native Pens Book on Breast Cancer
Webb Weekly by Jeffrey Allen Federowicz, February 10, 2011
People handle grief and loss differently, but it is common to want to do something in honor of the life that was lost. For Dr. Gayle Sulik, the grief of losing a friend to breast cancer at the young age of 40, inspired her to write a book on the subject, “Pink Ribbon Blues: How Breast Cancer Culture Undermines Women’s Health.”
Pink Thinking
Strong Women, Strong Girls by M. Brenner, December 8, 2010
Though December is just beginning, the pink of October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, still lingers on through its association with a number of products, and particularly in my own thoughts. During this month, medical sociologist Gayle A. Sulik visited my college to discuss the issues in her new book Pink Ribbon Blues, which examines the complicated medical, social, political, and economic factors wrapped up in the mainstream breast cancer movement. As a Strong Women, Strong Girls Program Intern this past summer, the color pink has become an increasingly thought-provoking topic for me.
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The Problem With Pink-Ribbon Drives
The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Caroline Bermudez, November 28, 2010
Gayle A. Sulik, a medical sociologist, says that pink-ribbon drives to promote attention to breast cancer are not effective in combating the disease, but instead divert attention way from the fact that the ailment is a public-health concern . . . Sulik writes that the [Komen] organization is responsible for helping to create the image of breast-cancer advocacy as a single, united movement and marginalizes the work of community groups. She also criticizes the organization for accepting certain types of corporate support–especially from drug companies.
The Burn Your Pink Ribbon Edition
Slate by Jessica Grose, Hanna Rosin, and Emily Yoffe, November 16, 2010
In this week’s gabfest, DoubleX’s Hanna Rosin and Jessica Grose, along with Slate‘s Emily Yoffe, discuss the misguided efforts of breast cancer awareness campaigns that involve “I Heart Boobies” bracelets; the bravery of Myanmar dissident Aung San Suu Kyi; the New York Timesarticle “Housewives of God”; and our Thanksgiving traditions.
Think About Pink
The New York Times Magazine by Peggy Orenstein, November 12, 2010. [Referenced by The Indiana Law Blog (Nov. 21, 2010.)
A friend of mine’s 12-year-old daughter has taken to wearing a bracelet, one of those rubber, Lance Armstrong-style affairs, that says on it, “I ❤ Boobies.” “Oh, yeah,” she said, vaguely, when questioned about it. “It’s for breast cancer.” Really?
Coming Together For Cancer: What Is It About This Disease That Rallies Support?
Times-News by Melissa Davlin, November 8, 2010
Between the pink ribbons at her favorite bar, her co-workers’ pink shirts, and her husband’s pink mohawk, Angel Luther knows how much her friends support her. . . Nationwide, others are becoming less enthralled with breast cancer awareness. In sociologist Gayle Sulik’s new book, “Pink Ribbon Blues,” Sulik takes a critical look at “pinkwashing.” Although the movement has raised more than $1 billion, there has been little progress in the fight against breast cancer, she writes.
Good Riddance, Pink−tober
The Tufts Daily by Ethan Frigan, November 3, 2010
November is finally here. I, for one, am ecstatic about this news, as it means our long, collective national nightmare is over. What am I talking about exactly? Unemployment is still over 9 percent. Economic downturn is still (debatably) going on strong. But no problem rested at the front of my mind for the past month as much as NFL players wearing pink, in the form of cleats, gloves and I’m sure 19 other jersey accessories that I have forgotten.
