Books by Gayle Sulik
Reveals the hidden costs of the pink ribbon as an industry in which breast cancer functions as a ... more Reveals the hidden costs of the pink ribbon as an industry in which breast cancer functions as a brand name with a pink ribbon logo. Based on historical and ethnographic data, analysis of awareness campaigns, and hundreds of interviews, Sulik shows that while millions walk, run, and purchase products for a cure, cancer rates rise, industry thrives, and breast cancer is stigmatized anew for those rejecting the pink model. The paperback edition of Pink Ribbon Blues includes a new Introduction on the recent developments in breast cancer culture as well as a new four-page color insert with images of, and reactions to, the pinking of breast cancer.
Papers by Gayle Sulik
The United States breast cancer movement helped to transform breast cancer’s social and medical l... more The United States breast cancer movement helped to transform breast cancer’s social and medical landscape domestically and, in some ways, internationally. However, differences in gender identities, power relations, and the role of feminism(s) cross-culturally also shaped breast cancer advocacy itself. After giving a brief introduction to the socio-historical context of the U.S. and Polish breast cancer movements, this article illuminates some of the linkages and divergences between the United States and Poland to demonstrate the role of gender and power in social movements that concentrate exclusively on women’s (health) issues, namely breast cancer. This comparison of social phenomena from two countries illuminates the impact of cultural patterns on models of activism as they relate to feminism and traditional gender roles.
This study analyzes the content and discursive strategies within 39 introductory-level sociology ... more This study analyzes the content and discursive strategies within 39 introductory-level sociology course syllabi published in TRAILS, the Teaching Resources and Innovations Library of the American Sociological Association, from two different time periods (2004 and 2010) to explore the syllabus as a tool for socialization. We find that syllabi, commended for their attention to pedagogical practice, do more than communicate course objectives and the means for achieving them. Syllabi (re)socialize students for success in the college setting by establishing student-teacher roles and norms and setting the tone for classroom interactions. The integration of sociological concepts and perspectives into syllabi also immerses students into the discipline and practice of sociology.
According to the National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship, a person is considered ... more According to the National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship, a person is considered a cancer survivor at the time of cancer diagnosis and remains so for the remainder of his or her life. By this definition there were about 13.7 million cancer survivors in the United States as of January 2012, a number projected to reach 18 million in the next decade. Sixty-four percent of the 2012 survivor population had survived 5 or more years; 40 percent had survived 10 or more years; and 15 percent had survived 20 or more years. But, contrary to the common definition of survival (i.e., to live), many cancer survivors do not actually survive cancer—according to an 18-year study by the American Association for Cancer Research, just over half of people labeled cancer “survivors” ultimately died of cancer. This contradiction creates confusion about the meaning of survivorship for patients, caregivers, and health practitioners. What’s more, it influences social support, policy guidelines, health care delivery and research, and survivors’ lives.
Journal of Cancer Education, Jan 1, 2012
The “Future Directions in Cancer Prevention and Control: Workforce Implications for Training, Pra... more The “Future Directions in Cancer Prevention and Control: Workforce Implications for Training, Practice, and Policy” — sponsored by the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center– focused on two central questions: 1) How can cancer prevention take a central role in the strategic planning to meet and minimize the effect of the future cancer burden? 2) Given the shortage anticipated for the oncology workforce by 2020, does the cancer prevention workforce face a similar shortage? And, what must be done? In considering these questions, it is vital to address the considerable gaps in information, communication, training, professional development, roles, and levels of collaboration among multiple disciplines, key stakeholders, and diverse constituencies. A Health Policy and Advocacy Working Group discussed key barriers to closing these gaps and mechanisms for addressing them.
Sociology Compass, Jan 1, 2011
Biomedicine situates the definitions, practices, and controls of the medical system within the fi... more Biomedicine situates the definitions, practices, and controls of the medical system within the field of technoscience, which relies on new knowledge, high technology, and biomedical health and risk surveillance. Though there has been a major shift in the role of the medical consumer since the 1970s and a general recognition of patients’ rights, biomedicine holds significant authority over peoples’ lives. Individual and collective identities are now routinely constructed through technoscientific means.
Sociology of health & illness, Jan 1, 2009
This paper analyzes how the uncertainty of breast cancer contributes to the development of a new ... more This paper analyzes how the uncertainty of breast cancer contributes to the development of a new type of illness identity – thetechnoscientific identity (TSI) – which is grounded in biomedical knowledge, advanced technology, and surveillance of one’s health and risks.
Advances in Medical Sociology, Jan 1, 2001
Analyzing breast cancer and infertility, Sulik and Eich-Krohm find that the proliferation of medi... more Analyzing breast cancer and infertility, Sulik and Eich-Krohm find that the proliferation of medical information and personal illness narratives on the Internet, in advice books, and through self-help groups may be empowering to some, while also introducing new fears and anxieties about the range of options for medical consumers and the heightened sense of personal responsibility they have about making the “right” decisions.
Gender & Society, Jan 1, 2007
When faced with a chronic life-threatening illness, women often negotiate social expectations tha... more When faced with a chronic life-threatening illness, women often negotiate social expectations that stress women’s selflessness, empathy, and caring for others. Striking a balance between their own needs and the needs of others involves setting boundaries and establishing criteria for accepting and asking for help.
Qualitative Sociology, Jan 1, 2007
To deal with breast cancer, women often break social norms that stress traditionally feminine tra... more To deal with breast cancer, women often break social norms that stress traditionally feminine traits such as compliance and putting the needs of others first. At the same time, many women take on new nurturing roles to support other diagnosed women, thereby relinquishing to some degree the individualistic approach they found necessary to cope with the illness in the first place.
Unpublished Dissertation, in partial fulfillment of PhD, Jan 1, 2004
In the last decade a growing literature in care work has examined how women’s unequal participati... more In the last decade a growing literature in care work has examined how women’s unequal participation in caregiving contributes to gender identity, social status, and women’s mental and physical health. What happens when women need care for themselves? This research is about how gender socialization influences women’s sense of entitlement to care even when facing a major life crisis.
Book Reviews by Gayle Sulik
Gender & Society, Oct 2013
In Seizing the Means of Reproduction, Michelle Murphy traces a set of feminist projects in the 19... more In Seizing the Means of Reproduction, Michelle Murphy traces a set of feminist projects in the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond to demonstrate how feminist, liberal, and imperial experiments to seize the means of reproduction animated one another in efforts to achieve empowerment, health, and national prosperity. Murphy offers a complex historical and theoretical grounding for rethinking feminism not only as a social movement that crafted its politics out of technocience and bodies (as many have charted), but as a biopolitical project. "Seizing the Means of Reproduction" is a must read for those interested in feminism, women’s health, the body, and medical sociology.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 2012
Biomedicalization by Adele E. Clarke and colleagues is an ambitious book that fleshes out the com... more Biomedicalization by Adele E. Clarke and colleagues is an ambitious book that fleshes out the complexities of technoscientific biomedicine. It showcases stellar case studies that concretize and complicate existing understandings of biomedicalization and its impact on society and life itself. Building upon their seminal publication on the topic in the American Sociological Review (2003), the authors show how increased reliance on technoscientific biomedicine not only extends and reconstitutes medicalization processes (i.e. the first social transformation of American Medicine, which amplified medical jurisdiction), but also redefines human bodies, selves, and socialities. As the second social transformation of American medicine, (bio)medicalization places health, illness, life, and death within the auspices of a new biomedical framework that relies on high technology, new knowledge, and biomedical health and risk surveillance while creating new potentialities, ethical conundrums, and forms of human and nonhuman agency.
Contemporary Sociology, Mar 2012
The Paradox of Hope by Cheryl Mattingly intimately explores the experiences of African American f... more The Paradox of Hope by Cheryl Mattingly intimately explores the experiences of African American families who are caring for children with severe and chronic health problems and disabilities. Bearing witness to their crises as they navigate the medical system within the specific context of the multicultural urban hospital, Mattingly analyzes hope not only as an existential problem but also as a culturally and structurally situated discursive practice, one that involves deep contemplation about what it means to have a good life and be a good person in the wake of suffering. For those facing serious impairment, hope is a personal practice and an ongoing conversation within the context of interpersonal relationships, the health care system, and the broader culture. The Paradox of Hope beautifully walks the reader through a narrative phenomenology of practice as well as the clinical settings, family dramas, and mundane events that comprise the territory of suffering. It is an exemplar for anyone interested in documenting and theorizing the complexity of everyday life as deeply rooted in the social and structural.
Sociology of Health and Illness, 2010
Better Cancer Care focuses on what it means to have cancer as well as what it means to be involve... more Better Cancer Care focuses on what it means to have cancer as well as what it means to be involved in cancer care. In the context of policy and practice in Scotland, the book argues for a ‘whole-systems’ and ‘relational’ approach to cancer care, highlighting the importance of locating people’s experiences of cancer within the multiple relationships and contexts in which they live. The book emphasises that cancer affects not only the diagnosed, but also friends, families, health professionals, co-workers, and communities. The authors argue that, although a patient-centred approach—particularly patient choice and empowerment—is the focus of much policy and practice in Scotland, cancer care policy and practice have failed to address broader social contexts. Thus, additional policies should focus on the development of community and professional partnerships, recognition of unpaid ⁄ informal carers, consideration of identity issues and meaning making, and promotion of a general culture of caring that focuses on the cancer patient as a social being who is more than an embodied tumour.
Other Publications by Gayle Sulik
The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World, 2010
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide yet there is considerable variation in... more Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide yet there is considerable variation in incidence and survival rates depending upon geographic location. As breast cancer has become more public especially in the United States since the early 1990s, some statistics (particularly those that generate fear) have dominated the public imagination and furthered the common sense message that “early detection” vis-à-vis mammography screening, “saves lives.” This entry will discuss often misunderstood elements of this statement, including the crucial role of disease classification, age, mortality, and the enduring controversy in western countries surrounding mammography screening.
Cultural Encyclopedia of the Breast, 2014
In the last two decades pink ribbon campaigns have, perhaps inadvertently, forged a profitable pi... more In the last two decades pink ribbon campaigns have, perhaps inadvertently, forged a profitable pink ribbon industry in which breast cancer awareness has given way to pink ribbon visibility. Investigations into products, companies, and charities have found little transparency, accountability, or evidence-based practice. Yet the industry spends billions to promote the pink ribbon while marketing products and services, some of which involve the production, manufacturing, and/or sales of products linked to the disease (i.e., “pinkwashing”). With the general populace still unaware of the complexities of breast cancer or barriers to ending the epidemic, many pink ribbon campaigns profit from hope while selling the image of the courageous warrior to anyone who buys, displays, or thinks pink. Fortunately, strains within the breast cancer movement continue to resist commercialization and promote evidence-based information and analyses of the systemic factors influencing breast cancer.
Cultural Encyclopedia of the Breast, 2014
For over a century women in the United States have worked to become empowered when dealing with b... more For over a century women in the United States have worked to become empowered when dealing with breast cancer. In 1920 Barbara Mueller wrote letters to her surgeon, William Halsted – the father of the radical mastectomy (a standard but invasive and debilitating treatment for breast cancer into the 1970s). By the early 1990s women’s organizing resulted in a successful social movement with hundreds if not thousands of community-based organizations across the nation. After two decades of advocacy breast cancer was out in the open, support systems were in place particularly for early stage women, screening programs were widespread, research programs were infused with money, patient advocates influenced research agendas and medical practice, the pink ribbon became the movement’s official symbol (1992), awareness activities such as the popular Race for the Cure were common, and breast cancer awareness became part of the American mainstream as well as a profitable item of popular consumption.
Aspects of the American approach to breast cancer have gone global. Yet the extent to which the American approach applies to other settings is a crucial consideration. Breast cancer as a social cause is highly contested in the United States, particularly in terms of the commercialization of a disease and the role of social movements and culture in promoting or resisting medicalization. American Influences in Poland provide an illuminating counterpoint.
The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World, 2010
The color pink has been used in advertising and popular culture since the 1940s. Drawing upon and... more The color pink has been used in advertising and popular culture since the 1940s. Drawing upon and reinforcing gender stereotypes, the subtlety and consistency of pink symbolism has adapted to different generations and contexts to shape popular understandings of what it means to be a woman in America.
Encyclopedia of Motherhood, 2010
Every year 700 thousand women in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. Excluding skin canc... more Every year 700 thousand women in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. In 2008, the American Cancer Society projected over 182 thousand new cases. Although 80 percent of these were in women over age fifty, nearly 33,000 diagnosed women were under the age of forty-five. Younger women with breast cancer face some issues that older women do not. In addition to frequently having more advanced cancers at diagnosis and higher mortality rates, these women potentially face infertility, early menopause, and implications for pregnancy after diagnosis. They are also likely to have dependent children and a greater responsibility for family care.
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Books by Gayle Sulik
Papers by Gayle Sulik
Book Reviews by Gayle Sulik
Other Publications by Gayle Sulik
Aspects of the American approach to breast cancer have gone global. Yet the extent to which the American approach applies to other settings is a crucial consideration. Breast cancer as a social cause is highly contested in the United States, particularly in terms of the commercialization of a disease and the role of social movements and culture in promoting or resisting medicalization. American Influences in Poland provide an illuminating counterpoint.
Aspects of the American approach to breast cancer have gone global. Yet the extent to which the American approach applies to other settings is a crucial consideration. Breast cancer as a social cause is highly contested in the United States, particularly in terms of the commercialization of a disease and the role of social movements and culture in promoting or resisting medicalization. American Influences in Poland provide an illuminating counterpoint.