The Breast Cancer Fund launched a
campaign series mid-January 2000 in the San Francisco Bay area. There were
three different campaign ads placed at 37 bus shelters around the city. The ads
mimicked the well-known brand logos of Victoria’s
Secret Lingerie catalog, Cosmopolitan
Magazine, and Obsession perfume.
A young beautiful model is the focus ad depicted to represent a Victoria’s Secret lingerie ad; she is modeling a set of lingerie
and reveals scars on her breast from a mastectomy. The caption reading, “It’s
no secret that society is obsessed with breasts, but what are we going to do
about breast cancer?” The advertisement campaign immediately received heavy
backlash because of the graphic pictures displayed showing the three women with
mastectomy scars. My
reasoning for picking this advertisement is because breast cancer has become
the largest cancer-affecting females worldwide. Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancers in females globally, accounting for 1.67 million new cases in 2012. (Sajjad) The campaign from the Breast Cancer Fund is challenging
our society that is obsessed with appearance to do something about breast
cancer, instead of objectifying women's bodies and women’s breasts like our society tends to do. Breasts on a
female are always a major focal point for men; they are regarded in society as
making someone feminine. If a woman isn’t viewed as having big beautiful
breasts, they are seen as less feminine by a large portion of society.
This ad campaign caused a great backlash from
residents as being too “graphic” yet, an argument made is that half naked women
are always advertised in our society and no one objects to models for perfume,
clothing, lingerie, or swimwear to be half naked. This is because the public
sees these women as being visually appealing. The moment real life scars are
shown to the public about the real effects of breast cancer, people don’t want
to see it. People want to see the pretty pink ribbon side of breast cancer, specifically the
Susan G. Komen awareness campaigns that have failed to help find a cure or
motivate people to help. According to The Breast Cancer Fund, the goals of the provocative ad campaign are to increase public awareness and involvement in breast cancer issues, to replace the fear of breast cancer with the desire to act, to educate and provide ways from the public to help fight the disease, and to promote discussion about breast cancer about breast cancer among children and young adults. (Imaginis)
Rhetoric of breast cancer shapes our lives, how we objectify women’s bodies, and how the feel-good war approach on breast cancer isn’t
working. People need to see the real side of breast cancer, the real effects, and the campaign from The Breast Cancer Fund shows this side. Women are just as
strong without their breasts, and society should change the way that they view women
in regards to being feminine or not. Breasts don’t make a woman. The real
consequences of breast cancer are: the mastectomies, the scars, the radiation,
the chemotherapy, and the emotional challenges that women have to go through on
a daily basis. The Breast Cancer Fund campaign series did an excellent job at
stimulating people's minds and challenging them to turn their obsession with breasts into action and help
the fight against breast cancer.
Discussion Questions:
- How can we as a society challenge the norms in which we value a woman regarding her femininity?
- As students of rhetoric, how do we as a society stop ourselves from constantly objectifying women's bodies?
- Is there a way to change the lens that has limited our visibility about the way that we view breast cancer awareness and actions that we can take against breast cancer?
"Imaginis."
Breast Cancer Ad Campaign Features Models with Mastectomy Scars (dateline
January 31, 2000). Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Sajjad,
Sehrish, et al. "The Effect Of Individualized Patient Education, Along
With Emotional Support, On The Quality Of Life Of Breast Cancer Patients - A
Pilot Study." European Journal Of Oncology Nursing 21.(2016): 75-82 8p.
CINAHL. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
I think the ad does a great job grabbing the attention of the audience. By showing the public the harsh realities of breast cancer gives it a shock factor. In terms of shaping the society and challenge the norms in which we value women regarding her femininity I think by doing ads like this is a good first step or at least in the right direction. For me, I get two things from this ad. The first being exposed to the harsh realities of breast cancer. However, the second attribute I obtain is that these women are still beautiful regardless if they have scars over where their breast used to be. By using these models helps shape a picture that women are not only being effected by breast cancer which is almost dark and depressing but the bright side is that these women are still beautiful, in return can have a positive impact for women going through breast cancer and give them hope.
ReplyDeleteI love this Ad! I think we as a society need a good slap in the face every now and then. We can get so engrained in our oversexualized and unrealistic objectification-ism that we forget just how precious body parts can be. Boobs are an important and helpful body part for women and saying a permanent goodbye to them can be heart breaking. Thus, cancer in this situation becomes a more serious subject. I believe we can use more seriousness here. People who struggle with life threatening diseases are in need of some hope and light-heartedness, but it is unrealistic to only feed this side. These people deserve seriousness and deserve to spread the word about how serious their disease is. They deserve to share their hardships with the world without being scrutinized for getting in touch with reality.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I see both sides of this argument, but it is hard for me to have pity for those offering backlash for this Ad. I think this Ad provides a healthy and serious outlet for a lot of angry cancer-stricken individuals.
Vulnerability is a weird social phenomenon. When we communicate vulnerability, it definitely grabs attention. Rhetorically, this provides a turn of societal norms. Is it the scars of a woman who has gone through mastectomy or is it the fact she is vulnerable enough to advertise what society sees as taboo that makes us uneasy? Objectification of women is commonplace in our society. Rhetorically, we can try to combat this by bring to light the awareness of the objectification, and then making a stand to say that it is not what society should be like. After making a statement like what this ad is trying to do, there should be a recommendation of a change in behavior. This begs to ask the question - What recommendation can we make once we raise awareness with a vulnerability ad like the one above? Will we be able to overcome our jealousy of other's vulnerability and openness? What can we say that will direct people's attention past the societal norms into a more constructive dialogue and perspective? The ad does a great job of raising these questions, but rhetorically, it needs much more in the space of progressing positive action towards a more understanding society.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the major issues with our obsession with bodies (male and female) is that we are obsessed with the IDEAS of bodies, rather than the real, raw bodies themselves. Because of the way we consume media, we receive an altered view of what real bodies actually are. Only the bodies we consider the "best" are featured on magazines or in commercials, and even those are then doctored through photoshop and video editing. We don't want to think or talk about all of the weird, uncomfortable, or heartbreaking experiences our bodies must go through in order to get us through our lives. So I think ads like these that show that humans can be frail and less than "perfect" are commendable, and maybe the conversation could change if there were more of them out there.
ReplyDeleteThese pictures got my attention really fast. In our society, we obsess over a certain way women should look. I think the ad does a really nice job at showing the true reality that many women go thru. A dose of reality is exactly what our world needs, and this ad delivers all the way.
ReplyDelete