“Welcome to Cancerland” by Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich documents her emotional and enlightening journey through breast cancer in her essay “Welcome to Cancerland”, published in Harper’s Magazine November 2001. Ehrenreich is an established political activist and feminist, composing award winning articles and columns throughout the years. Her most noted work in her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Ehrenreich’s style is witty and provocative, which shines through in her wrenching tale of cancer, which puts on a slant on “sappy pink ribbons”. Ehrenreich utilizes caustic humor and a biting tone to draw in the reader. She first begins with an anecdote on how tedious the mammography system is; she describes it as the “mother of all mammograms”, dubious of the wasted time and doubtful of the radiologist’s competence. She then goes on to lament the fate of a breast cancer “victim”, comparing the diagnosis to a “death sentence”. Throughout the essay Ehrenreich rediscovers an entire community of support: breast cancer victims, survivors, and family members, all accessible via internet forums, breast cancer walks, and various other supportive events. Although the process is painful, women view breast cancer as a “rite of passage”, in which strongly knitted communities band together to support one another. Ehrenreich, however, portrays these women as zombies of a “cult” or “religion”, completely overtaken by the crowd mentality. Ehrenreich is pained and upset by her condition, yet is annoyed at the unrelenting positivity that exudes from the breast cancer community. Ehrenreich opposes the “infantilization” of women, viewing the marketing ploy of pink objects and even pink crayons as an insult to mature and intellectual women, who are depicted as helpless infants because of their disease. She also notes towards the end of her essay of the environmental factors that play into breast cancer: why is it healthy women without history of breast cancer in the family are becoming sick? Ehrenreich makes a social commentary on how the American Cancer Society allocate “under 0.1 percent of its $700 million annual budget to environmental and occupational causes of cancer.” This shows that the ACS is undermining the health of patients in order to further their corporate enterprise. Ehrenreich also remarks on how “Astra Zeneca […] was a leading producer of pesticides, including acetochlor, classified by the EPA as a “probable human carcinogen.” Coincidentally, Astra Zeneca today is a leading rally-er behind Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a disease which they arguably are responsible for spreading. Ehrenreich ends the essay with her last plea: she reaffirms her opposition to quietly accepting cancer, (which she calls “manmade”) and raises awareness on the subject. Ehrenreich retells her sojourn with a feminine slant, and a refreshing take on being a breast cancer survivor.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Welcome to Cancerland”

Barbara Ehrenreich, an American feminist who was diagnosed with breast cancer, gives her brutally honest opinion on how corrupt the idea of breast cancer awareness has gotten in her essay “Welcome to Cancerland.” Once Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was motivated to read up more about the illness. What she found online was endless blogs, sites, and groups dedicated to helping calm the nerves of other patients. Ehrenreich noticed an overall positive mood that people promoted; as she got deeper into her treatment she was directed towards a lot of support groups and came across countless programs that worked with companies who were advocating breast cancer awareness. Ehrenreich discusses how this is more of a way for people and corporations to help women without being a feminist. But what they fail to address is what Ehrenreich describes as the real issues; she believes that the focus of this “awareness” should be on the causes of breast cancer, like environmental effects, and on the problems with detection and treatment of cancer. Breast Cancer awareness has strayed from its initial purpose and has turned into a corporation’s way of milking people’s money.

Ehrenreich brings up very valid points throughout her essay, but for me it was not effective in making me want to believe her. Logically it makes a lot of sense; she discusses how some programs are “an inefficient way of raising money” and how “the benefits of routine mammography ‘are not well established.’” She makes it very evident that there are issues that need to be solved; there needs to be a more efficient way of raising money that will go straight to the American Cancer Society, and the science behind mammography needs to be solidified. Even though she incorporates these issues into her argument, she develops a very angry tone when discussing her objections. She claims that the groups of optimistic and upbeat survivors are “not my sisterhood,” and that “what sustained me through the ‘treatments’ is a purifying rage, a resolve, framed in the sleepless nights of chemotherapy.” She leaves the reader with a lasting impression when she exclaims that “I will not go into that last good night with a teddy bear tucked under my arm.” Ehrenreich gives off a very bad attitude that is not appealing to readers. She just seems bitter towards people that are actually trying to help and support her. She makes the reader feel bad, and almost guilty, that they ever thought that they were being supportive by helping raise money and awareness. She should direct her energy and frustration on convincing people to work towards a better understanding of what the intentions are of breast cancer awareness. There’s no sense in putting people and optimism down, especially those who are also struggling, just because she doesn’t agree with it. She might as well appreciate their positive attitude, and use that positivity to help readers realize what other wonderful actions, and more beneficial actions, they can take to help.

(Re-post) Apes of Wrath Response

Barbara Smuts, an professor of psychology and anthropology, published this article called “Apes of Wrath” in Discover Magazine in 1995. In her article Smuts explains her unique research on a variety related chimpanzee species. In doing so, Smuts hoped to understand the behaviors these species exhibited and see if she could determine why. Sharing her experience and her data, Smuts describes many male-female behaviors that could be compared to human ones to some extent. These behaviors include sexual coercion and bond making between same sex and opposite sex alike.

Personally I find it hard to comment on an essay I cannot not really connect with, which I’m sure I am not alone. Smuts structures her article by first establishing her research and making mention to the different behaviors present within different species across the globe. In some species of chimpanzee, males become hostile to females in order to secure sexual right to that female by fear. Smuts also makes mention to female-female and male female bonds between some different species. Normally these female-female bonds are designed to cancel out male aggression while male-female bonds do the same, but at a cost of the female’s freedom. Other behviors mentioned involve the kin’s kin, whether they are of family or unrelated, or even completely segregated.

If you boil down the concept of marriage or relationships for humans, you could easily compare it to that of animals. In marriage or many relationships, females are restricted from other males and often met with violence if not. But Smuts makes a good point in explaining major differences, like morals: “Many men–perhaps most— maintain such traditional notions of marriage”. Also Smuts argues the strive for more female-male alliances as compared to female-female ones. In a male dominated world this still holds true.

Invention Exercise: Dobbs and Smuts

1. a)  Dobbs’ essay focuses on the behavioral patterns of teens and adolescents that many parents face when they reach those “golden” years.  Instead of putting all the blame on them and their actions he chooses to take a closer look at the psychologcial side of the problems.  Finding that the teen brain is really at fault for these misfirings and wrongdoings and explaining to parents that their children’s actions may just be a way of life rather than some ultimatium they’re trying to achieve.

b)  Smuts takes a look at the social patterns that she observes in apes and primates while conducting research.  She notes the agressive actions and harm done to females by the males, and further explains why the females respond in the way they do.  Once the reader has this understood she then takes it and relates it back to humans and rape and abuse that women have faced over time, and leaves them with a message saying that just because something has been going on for as long as we can remember doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.

2. a)  In Dobbs’ essay he talks about his own personal experience with his troubling son, how he was pulled over and arrested for reckless driving one night, and was forced to call his father to bail him out.  His son was traveling at a rate of 113 mph and took full responsibilty for his actions, stating that “the cop did the right thing in stopping him.”  The only problem he had with the charges was the fact that he was accussed of driving recklessly which he felt was incorrect since he was aware of the actions he was taking and in full control the entire time.  With that in mind Dobbs then goes on to open his essay and take a further look into the mind of the teen brain and how it develops.  But this initial opening with the anecdote is what really draws the reader in, gives them something to relate to, and has them question why teens do these things.

b)  Smuts similarly opens up her essay with an anecdote.  She explains the task of chasing a chimpanzee up and down the hills of a forest in Africa and how she observed extremely violent behavior done to this female chimp by her male counterparts.  She really makes it visual and uses imagery to make the reader feel as if they are standing there next to her and can fully appreicate the landscape and terrain.  By using this anecdote she is more likely going to catch someone’s attention and have them go on to read further into the article, rather than just starting with the comparative piece that she develops later on.

3. a) Quote: “It can seem a bit crazy that we humans don’t wise up a bit earlier in life.  But if we smartened up sooner, we’d end up dumber” (166).  This quote has a large impact on the reader and really makes them think and review what they may have felt in the past.  It’s powerful and is basically saying that perhaps it works in our favor that we get smarter and improve our abilities as we grow older.  The tools that Dobbs is using here is comparison saying that if we were to smarten up when we were younger then we would be dumber later on, therefore comparing and indicating that it is more beneficial to brighten up later on in life.

Invention exercises for Assignment 2

1. In 2-3 sentences, summarize in your own words each essay. Remember, a summary is a condensed version of the source text. It does not include any opinion. It does include the title of the piece and the author’s full name. Don’t worry about getting the wording perfect right now—just try to capture the essence of the readings.
a. “Beautiful Brains” by David Dobbs explains why adolescence is a problem in most adults’ eyes. Teenager’s brain is still developing in that period, and the remodeling is a kind of evolution
b. “Apes of Wrath” by Barbara Smuts mainly talks about her research on primates’ sexual behavior, and then relates it to human. By observing animal groups, Smuts concludes that male uses aggression to counter female sexual resistance. In human society, women’s role in early ancient time is very similar.
2. In 2-3 sentences, paraphrase in your own words a particular passage from each essay of not more than a paragraph. A paraphrase is different from a summary in that it is used with short passages—usually a few sentences—and doesn’t necessary shorten/condense the original. Choose a passage that you feel is important in each essay. After each paraphrase explain why it is significant.

a. The first paragraph of “Beautiful Brains” shares his son’s speeding story with readers. His son’s behavior is a symbol of teenagers. The story makes the entire essay accessible, especially talking about a scientific topic. It relates to life and attracts readers’ attention at once.
b. The first paragraph of “Apes of Wrath” is about the writer’s trip in Tanzania national park. She saw some estrous female chimpanzee were excited about male chimpanzee, but the male did not response them enthusiastically as though. It is a very interesting story, so that the readers are interested in the following paragraphs because they want to know the answer to the strange behavior.
3. Choose a direct quote from each essay. After each quote explain why it is significant. What textual tools does the writer use to persuade the reader?

a. Quote: a video game Steinberg uses draw this out nicely.
This is persuasive because: it is a detailed experiment. The example shows the evidence that why teenagers do not recognize risk as well as adults. Instead of stating the results of the experiment, she describes it specifically and relates to real life, so the abstract example is understandable.

b. Quote: In some species, females remain in their birth communities their whole lives, joining forces with related females to defend vital food resources against other females.
This is persuasive because: the writer divides the complex problem into some factor, and the quote is one of them. Different species perform differently. So it is very clear and easy to follow.

4. What are some common themes of these two readings?
They both show readers their research process by quoting others’ experiment or research results. Their topics are about science. They use narration to simplify the abstract definition.

5. What are some common textual strategies of these two readings? (Think about rhetorical modes, persuasive appeals, organization, diction, etc. Identify at least 3).
They appeal to emotions.
Ask questions: “Estrous females were the target of even more aggression. The obvious question was, why?”(77 Smuts) “What is wrong with these kids?”(157 Dobbs)
Break down into parts: In Dobbs’ essay, he lists three traits: excitement, novelty, risk, the company of peers. In Smuts’ essay, he details different species: females stay in their birth community and females leave their birth community.
Comparison: In Dobbs’ essay, he compares teenager’s behavior and brain with adults’. In Smuts’ essay, he compares male primate’s sexual aggression with human society, which is that female ancestors were controlled by male.

5. Imagine the two authors of these texts are sitting in a room together. Write the conversation they are having. What do they agree on? Where do they disagree?

Invention Exercise: Comparative Analysis

1) a. Dobbs’ article “Beautiful Brains” deals with the adolescent mind and the mechanisms that are responsible for a teen’s train of thought. The author uses research from various University studies to reinforce his claims and explain the technical aspect behind the teenage thought process.

b. Smuts’ article “Apes of Wrath” focuses on male aggression towards females in both different primate species and human beings. Smuts uses her own research and observations to back up all of her claims as well as point out relevant events in human history that correlates to her ideas.

2) a. Dobbs page 161 paragraph 3: Seeking sensation can be more than just a last minute, reckless thing to do. It is also a way of living in the moment and being able to feel a level of excitement in doing something you normally wouldn’t do. Thrill seeking is more than just a way to feel excitement, it is also a way to socialize and broaden one’s horizons.

b. Smuts page 80 paragraph 3: There are several factors that play a key role in explaining why females are victims of sexual coercion. By comparing and contrasting the relationships females form in different species, explanations can arise as to why such a phenomena occurs. Looking at the female chimpanzees in the Tai Forest, they seem to form close bonds with each other as a form of protection against male abuse.

3) a. Quote: Dobbs “The answer is that those troublesome traits don’t really characterize adolescence; they’re just what we notice most because they annoy us or put our children in danger.” (160)

This is persuasive because: Dobbs proposes an argument with his reader with this statement because somewhere in the back of our minds teens are just problem children. Dobbs puts things into perspective by stating that the older generation tends to recognize and label teens by the “stupid” things they do instead of looking at the bigger picture.

b. Quote: Smuts “My observations over the years have convinced me that a deeper understanding of male aggression against females in other species can help us understand its counterpart in our own.”

This is persuasive because: Smuts wants the reader to understand all aspects as to why males are violent towards to females. She proposes that the comparison to primates will help the reader develop a different mindset as to why such violence is present.

4) The two readings both use research whether from outside sources or own experiences in order to develop their persuasive article in a scientific way. Both readings talk about the behaviors of humans, trying to explain the way they behave with scientific evidence.

5)Dobbs: Persuasive appeals, examples, diction

Smuts: Persuasive appeals, diction, compare and contrast

5. Imagine the two authors of these texts are sitting in a room together. Write the conversation they are having. What do they agree on? Where do they disagree?

Invention Exercise for Assignment #2

1. In 2-3 sentences, summarize in your own words each essay. Remember, a summary is a condensed version of the source text. It does not include any opinion. It does include the title of the piece and the author’s full name. Don’t worry about getting the wording perfect right now—just try to capture the essence of the readings.

a. “Beautiful Brains” was written by David Dobbs, which explores an evolutionary explanation for the relationship between teens’ behaviors and teens’ brains. This essay is a sort of scientific paper that is supported by numerous scientific experiments.

b.Barbara Smuts’s “Apes of Wrath” firstly focuses on factors that causes the aggression of male no-human primates against female no-human primate.  In addition, Smuts makes connections between animal studies and “human social relation”. She tries to use factors gain from the animal observations to explain human social relation. 

2. In 2-3 sentences, paraphrase in your own words a particular passage from each essay of not more than a paragraph. A paraphrase is different from a summary in that it is used with short passages—usually a few sentences—and doesn’t necessary shorten/condense the original. Choose a passage that you feel is important in each essay. After each paraphrase explain why it is significant.

a.In Dobbs’s “Beautiful Brains”, he emphasizes a way how parents raise or educate their children. Parents are a light of their children, which can guide their children to explore their own world. On the way to recognize the world, parents should give their children appropriate suggestions and allow their children to make decisions independently, not just simply control their children’s life entirely.

b. In Smuts’s “Apes of Wrath”, Smuts ends her essay by giving people a caution. People do gain inspiration from other primates’ experiences and actions. Nevertheless, people still need to make plans in detail and deliberate concrete steps in order to challenge the traditional model of human social relation in the future.

3. Choose a direct quote from each essay. After each quote explain why it is significant. What textual tools does the writer use to persuade the reader?

a. Quote: “The adaptive-adolescent story…sits better with biology’s most fundamental principle, that of natural selection. Selection is hell on dysfunctional traits. If adolescence is essentially a collection of them-angst, idiocy, and haste, impulsiveness, selfishness, and reckless bumbling-than how did those traits survive selection? They couldn’t” (Dobbs 160).

This is persuasive because: Dobbs uses biological principle as a evidence to support his assertion. He also translate abstract principle to concrete example via posing a question. This way makes people deeply understand what he says. Dobbs answers the question in the next sentence in order to resonate with readers.

b. Quote: “In such “female-bonded” species, females also form alliance against aggressive males. Vervet monkeys are one such species, and among these small and exceptionally feisty African monkey, related females gang up against male. High-ranking females use their dense network of female alliances to rule the troop; although smaller than males, they slap persistent suitors away like annoying flies” (Smuts 79).

This is persuasive because: Smuts uses concrete example to support his assertion and convince readers. Vivid description can attract readers and makes his article interesting.

4. What are some common themes of these two readings?

Both of these two readings are discussing scientific topics and using plenty of scientific materials and experimental conclusions as a basic to support their assertions. 

5. What are some common textual strategies of these two readings? (Think about rhetorical modes, persuasive appeals, organization, diction, etc. Identify at least 3).

Narrative beginning; examples; definitions; comparison

 

Invention exercises for Assignment 2

1.
a. “Beautiful Brains” by David Dobbs explores a frequently asked question that what explain the teenagers’ behavior? And he describes in details about how the human brain function and grow during adolescence.

b. “Apes of Wrath” includes many science experiment author Barbara Smuts did on primates’ behavior. She specifically talks about the male aggression against female both in primate species and human society and try to find some relationship or connection between them.
2.

a.“Beautiful Brains”: fifth paragraph on page 157. After brain-imaging technology has been developed, people are presented with a new way to look at the problem of teenagers’ behavior which indicates that human’s brain take much longer to develop than we thought.

This passage is important because it introduces reader a complete new way, also the main argument of author in the essay, to looking at the teenager bevior.

b. “Apes of Wrath”: second paragraph on page 79. Although size matters how males treat females in case of sexual behavior, so do other factors. In particular, the social relationships females form with other females and with male appear to be as important.

This passage is important because It lists the past research result on primates’ sexual behavior, on top of that, introduce readers author’s new discovery or idea which is the main argument of her essay.

3.

a. Quote: “Excitement, novelty, risk, the company of peers. These traits may seem to add up to nothing more than doing foolish new stuff with friends. Look deeper, however, and you see that these traits that define adolescence make us more adaptive, both as individual and as a species.

This is persuasive because: this quote serve as both conclusion to the previous paragraphs and introduction to author’s new argument. Those four words at the beginning of the sentence give reader a strong impression of what author had just stated.

b. Quote:“marriage involves not only the exclusion of other men from sexual access to a men’s wife—which protected the woman against rape by other men—but also entail the husband’ right to complete control over his wife’s sexual life.

This is persuasive because: it defines the meaning of marriage in the way corresponding to primates’ sexual behavior as author described earlier. It not only guides reader to view the kernel of marriage in a different way but also build the connection between the behavior of nonhuman primates and human-beings.

Invention Exercise

1. a. Dobb’s essay talks about the development of the human brain during adolescence. Dobb’s uses researches and studies to illustrate a teens’ thinking is affected process during this time of development.

b. Smut’s essay talks about violence on females in nonhuman primate species and humans. She conducted her own research to make a connection about the injustices that females face in both respective societies.

2. a. On page 157-158, there is a paragraph where Dobbs discusses a research that was conducted and it proved that an average teen’s brain is not nearly as matured as scientists have thought. Although the brain does not grow during the age of 12 to 25, it undergoes multiple changes that improve its effectiveness. This paragraph has significance because it gives evidence that teens are not as rational as we all thought they were. There is an explanation to the irrational decisions that teens make in life, and this just might be one of them.

b. In a particular paragraph on page 77, Smuts explains the abuse that various nonhuman primate species receive and makes a connection to the same exact abuse that women face. The interesting analogy makes a comparison and shows the readers how male aggression towards females is prevalent in both communities. This paragraph conveys the message that the similarity in the behavior of males towards females in both species might be universal.

3. a. Quote: “This revelation suggested both a simplistic, unflattering explanation for teens’ madden behavior-and a more complex, affirmative explanation as well.”(157)

This is persuasive because Dobbs illustrates an insightful idea that explains the behavior of teens during their maturity process.

b. Quote: “Some of the factors that influence female vulnerability to male sexual coercion in different species may also help explain such variation among different groups in the same species.” (80)

This is persuasive because Smuts uses comparison to show the readers the connection between the various species and how they are closely related.

Invention Exercise: Smuts and Dobbs

1. a. Barbara Smuts “ Apes of Wrath” is about her observations to primate behavior and how it is comparable to humans behavior.
b. Dobbs essay called “ Beautiful Minds” examines how teenagers minds work and why they are notorious for acting reckless.
2. .

a.
b.
3.
a. Quote: “These imaging tools offered a new way to ask the same question-whats wrong with these kids? –and revealed and answer that surprised almost everyone.” -Dobbs
This is persuasive because: It is persuasive because it is very intriguing, he makes it so you can’t wait to read the next part.

b. Quote: “In these societies, todays as in the past, the husband’s female kin usually view the wife as a competitor for resources.”
This is persuasive because: It is persuasive because it is interesting what shes saying about the bonds between people.