Synopses & Reviews
The first comparison of the breast cancer and the prostate cancer movementsCancer Activism explores the interplay between advocacy, the media, and public perception through an analysis of breast cancer and prostate cancer activist groups over a nearly twenty-year period. Despite both diseases having nearly identical mortality and morbidity rates, Karen M. Kedrowski and Marilyn Stine Sarow present evidence from more than 4,200 news articles to show that the different groups have had markedly different impacts. They trace the rise of each movement from its beginning and explore how discussions about the diseases appeared on media, public, and government agendas. In an important exception to the feminist tenet that women as a group hold less power than men, Kedrowski and Sarow demonstrate that the breast cancer movement is not only larger and better organized than the prostate cancer movement, it is also far more successful at shaping media coverage, public opinion, and government policy.
Review
"This unique text serves as an excellent foundation for enhancing cancer awareness, creating and sustaining effective coalitions, facilitating proactive advocacy, enhancing medical communication, stimulating medical research and funding, and shaping public policy."--Oncology Nursing Forum
Review
"Cancer Activism is a well-written and engrossing account of how a determined group of grassroots leaders - many of them feminists - have changed the face of medical research."--New Scientist
Review
Synopsis
The first comprehensive study of the breast cancer and the prostate cancer movements
Synopsis
Cancer Activism explores the interplay between advocacy, the media, and public perception through an analysis of breast cancer and prostate cancer activist groups over a nearly twenty-year period. Despite both diseases having nearly identical mortality and morbidity rates, Karen M. Kedrowski and Marilyn Stine Sarow present evidence from more than 4,200 news articles to show that the different groups have had markedly different impacts. They trace the rise of each movement from its beginning and explore how discussions about the diseases appeared on media, public, and government agendas. In an important exception to the feminist tenet that women as a group hold less power than men, Kedrowski and Sarow demonstrate that the breast cancer movement is not only larger and better organized than the prostate cancer movement, it is also far more successful at shaping media coverage, public opinion, and government policy.
About the Author
Karen M. Kedrowski is professor and chair of the department of political science at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and the author of Media Entrepreneurs and the Media Enterprise in the U.S. Congress. Marilyn Stine Sarow is an associate professor of mass communication at Winthrop University, and coauthor of Integrated Business Communication in a Global Marketplace.