BBC - no adult human females here

[DrCathki]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45837563

So after my complaint about "people with periods" last week, looks like I will be doing the same again for "people" who get breast cancer. Breast Cancer Care stats confirm that 99% of those affected are women, not that you'd know from this article.

You have to think about the impact of detaching the word breasts from the word woman.
And the reason why?

Is an article about a disease that affects almost exclusively women improved, made more or less effective by using generic 'people' instead of women?

How much of the primarily impacted females shall we ignore on behalf of the whataboutery for men?

Do you think the authors would do this with ovarian cancer too? I suspect that they would.

The BBC erase references to women when they are associated (either primarily or exclusively) with female anatomy.

They consistently try to break the link between female bodies and the word woman.

This is not accidental.

Do you think the authors would do this with ovarian cancer too? I suspect that they would.

Awareness of gyny cancers is really low and this has consequences as early diagnosis improves outcomes.

The charities, professionals women and families who have been affected have been working hard to raise awareness & consistantly highlight the vital importance of using direct and clear language.

Professor Clare McKenzie, RCOG (Royal Colege of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists Vice President wrote in 2016:

"September marks Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month; a UK-wide initiative led by women’s cancer charity, The Eve Appeal. The campaign aims to encourage more women to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease, and to feel comfortable speaking about them without shame or embarrassment.

Sadly, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with one of the five forms of gynaecological cancer each year in the UK. In 2014, more than 7,750 of these women lost their battle. Despite these alarming statistics, gynaecological cancer remains a taboo subject among the public. We know that stigma, embarrassment and a lack of knowledge about the disease, are key barriers for women to talk openly about gynaecological cancer and seek medical help.

A new survey by The Eve Appeal now reveals a shocking number of women know little about their own anatomy; with nearly half of those surveyed unable to identify the vagina on an anatomical diagram, and 45% of women couldn’t point out the cervix.

Awareness of female cancers was also low; the survey found that 14% of women could not name a single gynaecological cancer, and 8% thought breast cancer was a type of gynaecological cancer. This survey highlights a growing need for better sex education. If women are better informed about what is normal or not when it comes to their gynaecological health, there is a higher chance they will seek help. This knowledge will equip young women for the future, and work to remove the stigma associated with gynaecological cancer.

In the wake of these statistics, The Eve Appeal has launched this year’s Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month with a theme focusing on knowing our own bodies (#KnowYourBody). The charity hopes this campaign will encourage women to get to know their bodies better; leading to early diagnoses.

Each day, around 25 women in the UK are diagnosed with womb cancer; the 12th most common cancer in the UK. Meanwhile, ovarian cancer leads to more deaths than any other type of gynaecological cancer with 4,100 women losing their life to the cancer in 2014. This is one too many wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.

If women notice any changes in their bleeding patterns, vaginal discharge or bowel or urinary habits, or experience pain during sex, we urge them to speak to a GP or nurse. We also encourage women who have any concerns to contact The Eve Appeal’s Ask Eve service on Freephone 0808 802 0019 or email [email protected].

It is vital that we raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of all types of gynaecological cancers. It’s time to change the mentality of these being a taboo subject, and get women talking about their bodies. Only then can we start reducing the number of women who died from the disease."
www.rcog.org.uk/en/blog/gynaecological-cancer-awareness-month-know-your-body/

5 in 10 women gets a disease = 50% of the female population
1 in 10 men get a disease = 10% of the male population

(allowing for 50:50 by sex)

That's 6 in 20 people get the disease = 30% of the population.

It’s a bit like sickle cell anaemia.

Yes, some white people have it - but 15,000 cases is a very large number when the impact on the black community is considered but tiny when set against the UK population as a whole.

A good medical education campaign teaches its target audience and has whatever effect you want it to. So we ask:

Who are we reaching?
What do we want them to know?
How do we go about that?

With breast cancer - it does affect men as well but I think you need a separate campaign for that. The branding and imagery and wording forvthe current breast cancer campaigns (pink ribbons etc, our local bakery had pink iced buns) is very stereotypically female - it’s yargeted at women and so adding a sex neutral wording in there is going to be lost. It’s not going to reach men because your average bloke will switch off atcthe pink and moonwalk stuff.

Just like the imagery for cardiac arrests was aimed at men - when you do a good medical Ed campaign the imagery needs to look like the people you’re targeting.

So many women were not realising their symptoms were heart attacks - so there was a female specific campaign to address that. That’s ticked all our boxes above - targeted, specific, informative. What’s needed for Male Brest cancer is. Similar campaign, using male stereotyped imagery, language aimed at males etc. The message would be lost otherwise.

This is people’s health - on a population of 70 million it’s a lot of lives. There’s no place for woke bullshit. The language, content and images need to be accurate, simple and targeted.

As barracker nails it above - the breaking of the link between the word woman and the sexed body and biological/medical/scientific tealityvis very telling. This is not benign