THESIS SEARCHING FOR A CURE?: A FEMINIST RHETORICAL QUEERING OF MAINSTREAM BREAST CANCER DISCOURSE ONLINE Submitted by Savannah Greer Downing Department of Communication Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Summer 2016 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Cindy Griffin Katie Gibson Lynn Kwiatkowski Copyright by Savannah Greer Downing 2016 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT SEARCHING FOR A CURE?: A FEMINIST RHETORICAL QUEERING OF MAINSTREAM BREAST CANCER DISCOURSE ONLINE This project is a feminist rhetorical analysis of two main sites of breast cancer communication: Komen and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. In order to better understand messages about breast cancer online and how those messages seek to constitute particular audiences, this project rhetorically queers each organization’s homepage to consider representations of race, class and gender. The intersectional approach critiques the presentation of normalized experiences of breast cancer that rely on traditional femininity and cast breast cancer as a middle to upper class white woman’s disease and points to the potential consequences of such a presentation for those who fall along the margins. Ultimately, the project calls for a remaking of breast cancer discourse to be more inclusive, particularly given the vulnerability of bodies already affected by breast cancer, and demonstrates how seemingly palatable sites that are highly trafficked actually further marginalize already silenced experiences of breast cancer. ii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without, first and foremost, a modest inheritance from my grandpa, Bobby, which allowed me to attend the University of Georgia with less of a financial burden. In turn, I was exposed to a rich curriculum with incredible feminist scholars who fostered my initial interest in breast cancer communication. Without the encouragement and unending support from my parents, Greer and Ken, I could never have imagined leaving small town Donalsonville to venture out west to research and write about a topic I love. Thank you for answering all my frantic phone calls, reminding me how capable I am, and sending me lots of Grits and love and mementos from back home. To my little sister, Macy, and baby brother, Nick, thank you for thinking that I’m cool even though we all know that I’m the least cool sibling. Cindy Griffin, you have been a source of strength when I found myself dazed and confused as early as my first semester of graduate school. Thank you for the encouraging notes in Feminist Theories of Discourse, pushing me to think radically, and reminding me that this work is important. Katie Gibson, I could not have done this project without you. Thank you for letting me laugh and cry in your office (and hallway) and for being such a fun person to work with – on your book, for your gender course, and in your class. Lynn Kwiatkowski, thank you for being such a sweet light throughout this process. You have been so helpful, accommodating, and have brought up really important points that I value so much, as they have helped me make this project even better. Krystina, I literally could not have survived graduate school without you. Jena, you are the literal best and I cannot with how perfect you are. I’ll miss you two so much. Rachel, I’m looking forward to finally being back in Georgia to see more of you, and I can’t believe we are iii still celebrating accomplishments like these fourteen years after our morning news show gig. Jack and Dave, you have been my furry constants and so much fun to look forward to when I come home every day. Jillian, for every paper I have written, I’m grateful for at least double the time it took to write it spent talking through it with you over the phone (and screenshotting things to gossip over, too, of course). I’m glad I talked to you in Timmons class; who knew?! Corey, thank you for letting me go do this whole thing and still thinking the world of me. iv DEDICATION For my Grandma Sue Chapman, my mama’s “Momma,” and Bobby’s “Girlfriend.” v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................................v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Literature Review .........................................................................................................................3 Pretty Passive: Breast Cancer’s Ideal Patient/Survivor/Supporter ...........................................4 “Am I at Risk?”: Asking/Accessing the Internet for Breast Cancer Information ....................7 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................8 Althusser: Ideology and Interpellation .....................................................................................9 Charland’s Constitutive Rhetoric ...........................................................................................10 Butler’s ‘Livable Life’ ............................................................................................................11 Methodology ..............................................................................................................................13 Textual Fragments ..................................................................................................................13 Queering Pink .........................................................................................................................14 Rhetorical Texts of Study ...........................................................................................................15 Thesis Overview .........................................................................................................................18 Chapter 2: The Komen Foundation................................................................................................20 Komen: Is it Rhetorical? ............................................................................................................25 vi ww5.komen.org ..........................................................................................................................28 We Want YOU!: Komen as Recruiter ....................................................................................29 Pretty Pink Thing: Cancer as Play ..........................................................................................33 Race and the Cure ...................................................................................................................36 Money Matters: Komen and Class .........................................................................................40 Men Get Breast Cancer, Too: How Komen Feminizes the Disease .......................................44 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................49 Chapter 3: The National Breast Cancer Foundation ......................................................................51 Founding the National Breast Cancer Foundation .....................................................................52 “Life-saving Information” and Breast Cancer Online ................................................................53 Pink Persuasion: Crafting Breast Cancer Information ...............................................................56 www.nationalbreastcancer.org ...................................................................................................57 It Worked for Me: Mammograms as Prevention ....................................................................58 Highlighting a Rhetoric of Hope ............................................................................................62 “Help (White) Women Now” .................................................................................................65 Who’s Doing the Helping? .....................................................................................................68 What About Helping (Wo)men? ............................................................................................71 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................74 Chapter 4: Conclusion....................................................................................................................75 Summary of Chapters .................................................................................................................76 vii Reflections ..................................................................................................................................78 Future Research ..........................................................................................................................83 Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................84