Cancer experiences of African-American women as portrayed in popular mass magazines

Popular magazines provide opportunities for teachable moments about cancer prevention and control to broad segments of the population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate attitudes and beliefs about cancer as presented in magazine cancer stories with a predominant readership of African-American women. Information was collected on full length cancer stories in Jet, Ebony and Essence from 1987 to 1995. There were 11 personal stories about cancer impact on women in the magazine issues over 9 years. Five themes emerged: religiosity, cancer fatalism, quality of life after diagnosis, interactions with medical personnel, and treatment choices. Within each theme area, specific subthemes were identified. Within religiosity, subthemes included the importance of faith, God's role, and the challenge to the spirit of a cancer diagnosis. Negative interactions with the medical system were described in 45% (5/11) of the stories. Quality of life emerged as an important issue in the cancer stories with death and dying, and pain or side-effects of treatment appearing in 64% (7/11) of the narratives. These results suggest that narratives in magazines with predominant readership among African-American women emphasize religious beliefs in cancer survival and present mixed attitudes towards European-American medical institutions. Mass media contributes to that discourse which shapes women's attitudes about survival from cancer.