Women's interest in health vs. pop culture

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7662942.stm

I read this article from BBC News that tries to compare women's interest in popular culture vs. their interest in breast cancer. The statistics from the 1000 women surveyed show that 4 out of 5 women can name celebrities but only half check themselves for breast lumps once a month. It is true that over 40, 000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, however I do not believe it is true that women are more interested in the gossip page than their risks at contracting this disease.

Pretty much everyone in this class has our 200C Core class, and we all listened to Lori Dorfman speak about media advocacy. I believe that this article is a perfect example of framing. This article does mention the seriousness of breast cancer and the concern women should have about their own health. It also illustrates the lack of care some women take in their own regular examination. Yet, the article frames the issue in such a way that it blames the victim. Women are the victims of breast cancer, and often are uninformed about their risks unless they have someone in their life who has been a victim of the disease. It may be true that more women read tabloid magazines and know who is dating whom, than their risks of developing cancer. However, this does not indicate to me the apathy surrounding breast cancer health the article suggests.

A more productive framework for this article would be to inform about the problem and then give suggestions on what women can do to get more information. The article mentions the Breast Cancer Campaign, (whatever that is) but there is no suggestion on where the public can even get a breast exam. There is no mention of how to be proactive about one's breast health and no guidance on what women should do should they find a breast lump at all.

I believe that part of the problem of lack of information is articles like this one. By blaming women for being more interested in celebrity drama than their health, we ignore the fundamental problem with the system. Information about popular culture is just easier to acquire. People absorb what is put in front of them and with articles like this, we miss the point: breast exams should be done regularly by all women and a conversation about breast cancer should be had with one's doctor. When reading this the majority of people would ignore the institutional shortcomings of lack of information about this topic, and blame the personal choices of women to not give themselves monthly exams.