Resisting “national breast cancer awareness month”: the rhetoric of counterpublics and their cultural performances
Published Nov 1, 2003 · P. Pezzullo
Quarterly Journal of Speech
168
Citations
14
Influential Citations
Abstract
Since 1984, October has been recognized in the U.S. as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 1997, the Toxic Links Coalition of the Bay Area, California, began organizing annual “Stop Cancer Where It Starts” tours to counter attempts to obscure the environmentally-linked causes of cancer. By drawing on research including participant observation, this essay analyzes the politics of these two publics in an attempt to illustrate the limits of a binary conceptualization of publics and counterpublics and to emphasize the rhetorical value of the cultural performances that constitute public life.
Study Snapshot
Key takeawayCounterpublics, such as the Toxic Links Coalition, can resist National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by highlighting the rhetorical value of cultural performances that constitute public life.
PopulationOlder adults (50-71 years)
Sample size24
MethodsObservational
OutcomesBody Mass Index projections
ResultsSocial networks mitigate obesity in older groups.