Author: Lisa Guerrera
Chemical Free Marketing: Chemophobia in the Cosmetic Industry
In recent years, the cosmetic industry has employed the use of “chemical free” marketing, which is a term for a marketing strategy that implies a product is free from synthetic ingredients, irritants, and is generally safe for humans and the environment. Trendy marketing buzzwords like “chemical free,” “all natural,” “detoxifying,” “natural extracts,” and the like, are exhaustively used in the cosmetic industry and while these terms seem well meaning, they are actually misleading and harmful. How does this marketing effect consumer perspective on products and does this marketing lead to consumer chemophobia (fear of chemicals) in regards to the ingredients used in cosmetic industry? Is chemophobia in the cosmetic industry justified?
I argue that chemophobic marketing strategies lead to a big problem. Companies are able to tout products that claim to be “chemical free” (which is impossible) and tend promote ingredients with outrageous claims that have little to no scientific backing. From this, consumers are led to believe that chemicals are inherently bad and that only “naturally derived” ingredients are truly safe to use. This is considered chemophobia, which is a growing fear among Americans. The misinformation that “miracle natural extracts” are better than “harsh chemicals” creates an atmosphere of simultaneous trust and distrust of science. Both companies that promote themselves as “all natural” and companies that promote themselves as heavily “science based” are guilty of chemophobia marketing.
My research will focus on surveying consumers in an attempt to understand the chemophobia phenomenon in relation to cosmetic products. I will be analyzing articles, blogs, and various products and company websites. As a student of chemistry, I will further turn to peer-reviewed scientific studies to compare various alternative “natural” ingredients in “chemical free” marketed cosmetics to scientifically proven ingredients in an attempt to demystify the chemistry of cosmetics.
(word count: 297)
Lisa’s Four-Week Syllabus
Developing Birth Control Policy in America: Where Science and Rhetoric Meet
Course Description:
When looking at women’s health policy in America, there seems to be a severe lack of a scientific perspective on the matter. Like most topics in politics, opinions tend to interfere with sensible policy making. But why, in the United States, is women’s health policy seemingly shaped by opinions rather than scientific data? When looking specifically at birth control methods and regulation, the political climate has been tumultuous to say the least. In the current political climate, there’s a disconnect between developing policy and science, and we want to explore why that’s the case.
Since a women’s ability to control her reproductive facilities is fundamental to her autonomy (although some would argue against this), why is there such a polarized debate surrounding birth control? We will address the possible reasons the rhetoric surrounding birth control is controversial and lacks scientific understanding and discussion. Why is birth control a different health issue both scientifically and politically? Further, we will discuss how we can reshape the rhetoric and policy regarding birth control using a scientific perspective and what are the pros and cons of using that particular perspective.
This class will first focus on a scientific introduction to birth control, and move onto medical history, social history, and finally political history of birth control in the United States.
Modern Birth Control Policy in America
When looking at women’s health policy in America, there seems to be a severe lack of a scientific perspective on the matter. Like most topics in politics, opinions tend to interfere with sensible policy making. But why, in the United States, is women’s health policy seemingly shaped by opinions rather than scientific data? When looking specifically at birth control methods and regulation, the political climate has been tumultuous to say the least. In the current political climate, there’s a disconnect between developing policy and science, and I want to explore why that’s the case.
Since a women’s ability to control her reproductive facilities is fundamental to her autonomy (although some would argue against this), why is there such a polarized debate surrounding birth control? I want to address the possible reasons the rhetoric surrounding birth control is controversial and lacks scientific understanding and discussion. Why is birth control a different health issue both scientifically and politically? Further, I will discuss how we can reshape the rhetoric and policy regarding birth control using a scientific perspective and what are the pros and cons of using that particular perspective.
The resources I would like to include in my thesis are; news articles regarding developing policies surrounding birth control and Planned Parenthood, scientific articles regarding the mechanisms of birth control, and various databases on teen pregnancy rates in states with and without heavy control over teens accessing birth control. Lastly, books that would discuss the history of birth control policy, also any books that would discuss the development of science surrounding birth control.
