by Jill Finkelstein

Link Roundup: Breast Cancer Awareness

Everyday, we come across interesting articles and wonderful resources for Jewish feminists. Now we are bringing them directly to you in a new feature of the Lilith blog, our weekly Link Roundup. Each week we’ll post highlights from around the web. And, we want you to get involved! If there’s anything you want to be sure we know about, email us or leave a message in the comments section below.

Start here with a peek into the Lilith’s rich archives in this week’s special edition of Nothing New Under the Sun! For a look at Lilith’s unique take on breast cancer awareness, click here to download our 1995 article entitled “MASTECTOMY: Twelve Months after Surgery A Bathing Ritual for the End of Mourning.”

On Thursday, Jerusalem hosted its first-ever breast cancer race, sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. In honor of the event, the walls of Old City Jerusalem were lit up with pink lights. [Washington Post]

As it turns out, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and Israel have had a strong bond for a number of years. Israel was awarded the foundation’s first international research grant 16 years ago. The foundation has also invested $2 million in several research facilities in Israel, including Weizmann Institute of Science, Hebrew University-Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Beit Natan and Life’s Door. [The Fundermentalist]

Over at The Sisterhood, Chanel Dubofsky explains her concerns in her blog post entitled “Why I hate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.” She cites Barbara Ehrenreich, who wrote, “To some extent, pink-ribbon culture has replaced feminism as a focus of female identity and solidarity” in her 2009 essay, “Not So Pretty in Pink.” Debra Nussbaum Cohen goes on to add that “ribbon culture as a whole — and its sister statements, the cause-related Facebook status update and the endlessly-forwarded email — have for many replaced meaningful social activism.” [The Sisterhood]

The Jewish Week reviews a new book called Previvors: Facing the Breast Cancer Gene and Making Life-Changing Decisions, by Dina Roth Port. The book documents 5 high-risk women who take extreme precautionary health measures to prevent breast cancer. The article notes that breast cancer is more prevalent among Jewish women because, “Ashkenazi Jews have a 10 times greater chance of carrying either mutated BRCA gene than the general population.” [The Jewish Week]

–Jillian Finkelstein