Advertising on cancer prevention perpetuates fear, not awareness
Why make the public conversation about cancer negative? Instead, make it informative.
I have spoken with other breast cancer survivors regarding this topic. I know I am not the only survivor who disagrees with current advertising tactics, which include putting fear into people, rather than knowledge.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 42. I have two young children, and at the time they were 10 and 12.
The other day, I was driving down a main thoroughfare and saw a billboard displaying a beautiful woman. She was young when she lost her life to breast cancer. I completely understand the message — it is no longer an 80-year- old person’s disease. Advertising this is a scare tactic to get young women to check themselves regularly, to be aware of their bodies.
When my husband and I told our kids that I had breast cancer, and if they had seen that advertising, what message would they have taken away?
I'll tell you what it would have been: My mom is going to die. Well why not? This very young girl did, and she must have been a lot healthier than my old mom. So, my mom hasn’t got a chance against breast cancer.
The message needs to be changed.
There has to be a better way of educating younger women to know their bodies. Why frighten them into body awareness and the practice of self-checking?
Empower them instead. The message needs to be about the increase in breast cancer, and that age does not matter, but if you know what to look for it may be diagnosed quicker.
Doctors must understand that message, too.
They can no longer brush off young women when they think something is wrong. A lump is a lump and it must be taken seriously. A mammogram should not be limited to women who are 50 years plus. They need to start earlier.
Women cannot be afraid to go to their doctors, even if they think it is nothing. Let a test determine what it is. It may save a life — it saved mine.
Advertising that perpetuates a culture of fear has a negative effect. No one wants to find out bad news. Trust me, I know.
Instead of putting this face on a billboard, put women of all ages on it. State the importance of regular gynecological checkups, promote advocacy and educate doctors to realize that cancer does not care what age you are.
Make the message positive: This young woman knew her body and found a lump on her own, and because of advances in treating breast cancer, doctors saved her life. Why? Because she was educated and knew to check herself.
That is the message that women should take away from advertising.
This way, my kids walk away with the message: My mom will be okay. She was smart and she knew something was wrong, so she went to her doctor and now she is healthy.
Turn the scare tactics into information, so all people are educated.
Tara Torchia-Wells is the author of The Compression Garment Diaries: Breast Cancer, An Unexpected Gift.
