Weekly Questions – Page 2 – The Politics of Women’s Health

Question for Week 4: Pain and Disability

“To have pain is to have certainty; to hear about pain is to have doubt.” Elaine Scarry, The Body in Pain, p. 18

Please write a response about this quotation from Elaine Scarry’s book (which we’re not reading). How does it describe a central tension in most of what you’ve read this week?

We’ll also be talking about living with disability, which may or may not fit in with discussions of pain. You don’t need to include the articles that don’t fit this prompt in your answer (though you should still read them!) 🙂

Weekly Question, week 3, breast cancer

After reading “Cancer Butch,” Audre Lorde’s chapter, and the other articles about sex and breast cancer, write a response that examines the heteronormativity of breast cancer’s “pinkwashing.”

Question for week 2, Obesity

This week’s readings address the ways in which dieting has affected women’s self perceptions in terms of personal attractiveness and mothering (among other things). How and why do “health claims” matter in this discussion? In other words, how important are notions of what a “healthy body” is supposed to be?

Please remember to click “private” on the right so that only I see your response. And under “categories” please click on “journals.” Thanks!