7. Rachel's Daughters

Question 1

Describe Carson’s concern about pesticide use.

Answer 1

1. Joined a local society for the admiration of nature and conservation
2. The group had a local interest in the impact of pesticides
3. She attended hearings and the group worked with medical researchers in relation to health effects of pesticides
4. In 1962 she wrote the instant classic silent spring which was about if you use of synthetic pesticides it will kill all insects which will kill birds and destroy ecosystem
5. The chemical industries and Congress members reacted angrily and attacked her because she was a non academic and was described as an “overemotional hysterical woman”
6. She gained some support from the medical profession

Question 2

Describe Rachel Carson’s experience with breast cancer

Answer 2

1. She hid this so to avoid appearing to emotional
2. This would have reduced her power
3. However, own involvement can strengthen power due to experience and advocacy
4. This is a good example of the double bind

Question 3

Describe Rachel Carson is mixed legacy

Answer 3

1. She created the idea of environmental danger and encouraged activism as well as influencing the field of science communication
2. Silent spring eventually brought about the disuse of DDT so it was not used in developing countries
3. Some argue this meant she was responsible for the prevalence of malaria in Africa
4. A group of female activists have cleaned the title rituals and daughters and a vocal about breast cancer as a reclaiming strategy

Question 4

Describe how approaches to combating cancer developed

Answer 4

1. Until the 19th century cancer was not visible as people died from infectious disease first
2. By the 19 century various forms of tissue irritation was seen as the cause leading to tissue change and cancer
3. The first cause or environmental link was made by Percivall Pott
4. He said chimney sweep’s cancer (cancer of the scrotum) was caused by exposure to coal
5. In the 20th century there was a more generalised effort to understand cancer genetic and lifestyle factors having a big influence
6. There were mouse studies on specially bred lines in order to deduce the importance of heredity

Question 5

Describe the importance placed on lifestyle factors in breast cancer in the 1930s

Answer 5

1. As cancer became more visible, campaigning began which highlighted the importance of early detection and aggressive treatment in the USA and France
2. Accessible cancers were targeted for example skin, mouth, breast and cervical cancer
3. Campaigns made it personal responsibility to find cancer, putting blame on the patient when neither the patient nor the campaign knew the cause of cancer
4. Phrases such as “do not delay “ and “choose to live” were used

Question 6

How did approaches to disease change in the 1950s and 60s

Answer 6

1. There was a greater focus on chronic diseases over infectious diseases as longer lives and lifestyles changed
2. Diseases were recorded by activity so activity recorded and seen what diseases developed
3. In the 50s epidemiological studies suggested lung cancer and smoking link
4. In 1962 after much debate the Royal College of physicians announced smoking causes cancer
5. In 1964 the US Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health declared the mechanisms unsure but smoking causes cancer

Question 7

How was health viewed in the 1970s?

Answer 7

1. Bodies deviate from what is expected sometimes
2. People are responsible for monitoring this
3. Choices influence personal health and chronic diseases are caused by lifestyle choices
4. Little emphasis on environmental factors
5. Individual has choices collectively become public health

Question 8

How did the women’s movement influence the environmental breast cancer movement

Answer 8

1. Idea that individual empowerment can lead to collective change
2. The feminist movement provided tools to aid the environmental breast cancer movement
3. The women’s health movement brought important relevant issues to the forefront

Question 9

What tools did the feminist movement provide to aid the environmental breast cancer movement?

Answer 9

1. Consciousness raising – share experiences to increase understanding
2. Egalitarian relationships lead to collective decision-making

Question 10

How did the women’s health movement influence the environmental breast cancer movement?

Answer 10

1. More importance on knowledge and choice

2. Viewing each other, not just authorities, as valuable sources of information for example our bodies ourselves

Question 11

How did the environmental movement influence the environmental breast cancer movement?

Answer 11

1. In the 1970s media give attention to grassroots environmental movements and disasters
2. In the UK, this was largely connected to nuclear-power
3. In the USA, chemical disasters for example Love Canal, Buffalo, New York

Question 12

Describe the incident of Love Canal

Answer 12

1. Chemical waste leaked from buried containers in previous industrial area
2. Waste leaked into gardens and basements
3. Female and local activists found, in door-to-door surveys, 50% of babies born in those years were born with defects
4. Chemical company and government argued that the evidence was not firm
5. The superfund was created - all chemical company is paying I did used to treat environmental damage in the USA

Question 13

What sort of research are the environmental breast cancer movements campaigning for?

Answer 13

1. Xenoestrogens, endocrine disrupters and bioaccumulation may contribute to breast cancer
2. PCBs may impact female health, leading to other problems
3. These include related development problems, precocious puberty, reproduction problems, sexual development and hormone related cancer
4. Demography is also changing
5. It is difficult to separate these factors from lifestyle choices, for example, increased fat intake leads to changes in hormones and puberty
6. Activists want to make use of the precautionary principle
7. Bias on both sides can be a problem

Question 14

How has the model environmental breast cancer movement merged with other forms of activism?

Answer 14

1. Environmental justice/racism – band from New Orleans to Houston, known as cancer alley, has many poorly regulated chemical plants
2. mThese are working-class black areas
3. Toxic tours show evidence, organised by activists
4. There has also been merging with anticapitalist and anti fracking movements

Question 15

Who was Rachel Carson?

Answer 15

1. A prominent biologist educated in the 1920s and 30s so part of the second generation of female scientists, so most of her professors were male although biology was open to female researchers
2. Good scientist but left academia to earn money as had a sick nephew
3. Worked as a writer and biologist for the US bureau of fisheries
4. Wrote a popular science book called The Sea Around Us and began to write freelance