Early Detection
Women, Cancer, and Awareness Campaigns in the Twentieth-Century United States
Kirsten E. Gardner
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/2006
Pages: 304
Subject: Social Science, Health and Fitness, Medical
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807877128
DESCRIPTION
By the 1930s there were 300,000 members of the Women's Field Army working together with women's clubs. They held explicit discussions about the risks, detection, and incidence of cancer and, by mid-century, were offering advice about routine breast self-exams and annual Pap smears. The feminist health movement of the 1970s, Gardner explains, heralded a departure for female involvement in women's health activism. As before, women encouraged early detection, but they simultaneously demanded increased attention to gender and medical research, patient experiences, and causal factors. Our understanding of today's vibrant feminist health movement is enriched by Gardner's work recognizing women's roles in grassroots educational programs throughout the twentieth century and their creation of supportive networks that endure today.