A Couple of Good Pieces About the Komen/PP Debacle

Amy Shiller write in The Nation the controversy was good for feminism "while it lasted" because it showed how much feminism had been co-opted by non-threatening, corporate-backed organizations, in this case access to women's health care:

As the infantilizing blush-hued gear has proliferated, the pink saturation has merged the medical industrial complex with the Disney princess-industrial complex, making women’s health policy some sort of adult dress-up game. In her landmark 2009 essay “Cancerland,” Barbara Ehrenreich wrote, “To some extent, pink-ribbon culture has replaced feminism as a focus of female identity and solidarity…. In the post-feminist United States, issues like rape, domestic violence, and unwanted pregnancy seem to be too edgy for much public discussion, but breast cancer is all apple pie.” Breast cancer has become a safe cause because no one can blame a woman for her cancer but reproductive health—you know, the kind that deals with the fact that women have sex—is where the rubbers hit the road.

There are plenty of high-profile members of the saccharine sisterhood.The Oprah brand often epitomizes this shallow perspective on what actually constitutes feminism. Two years ago, Karen Salmansohn, an Oprah magazine writer, wrote an article declaring herself not a feminist but a “feminine-ist.” “With the word ‘feminism,’ it might have been embarrassing for a man to say he was a supporter because it might sound like he was admitting to supporting of a group of controlling, bitchy women,” wrote Salmansohn. “But with new pro-sexiness, pro-sweetness, pro-balance words like ‘feminine-ist’ and ‘feminine-ism,’ what’s not for a man to love?”

The hard questions weren't being asked until the last few days.

I'd like to see the new Canadian documentary, Pink Ribbons, I think it is called. I will probably have to wait until it makes it to DVD.


Of course the WSWS chimes in on the mess last week, showing that the decision by the Komen board to cut PP funding was obviously political despite the organization's claims to the contrary.

Brinker and company completely overestimated the anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood sentiment in this country. Not that the "reversal" means SGK won't cut off PP funding at a later date.

There is no question that Handel took the job at Susan G. Komen with the aim of severing the foundation’s connections to Planned Parenthood, and that Komen’s board of directors knew precisely what they were getting. What a remarkable choice to head public policy efforts for an organization pledged to promote women’s health!

Komen’s alliance with anti-abortion crusaders did not stop with Handel. The group Americans United for Life has aggressively pushed for Congress to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The group’s report, “The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood,” led to a probe by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Stearns’ investigation of the health care provider. Komen seized on that investigation to provide a mechanism for eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood.

That Komen Foundation debacle is but the latest incidence of a cave-in to these ultra-right forces, particularly in the area of women’s health. In a clear affront to the health of young women, the Obama administration last December overruled a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommendation that would have allowed emergency contraceptives to be sold over the counter with no age restrictions. The decision to overturn the FDA ruling had no basis in science and was denounced by women’s health advocates and medical professionals. It was a move calculated to build support among the religious right and the Catholic Church for Obama’s reelection bid.