My Soul Is Among Lions: Pages from the Breast Cancer Archives

Ellen Leopold’s unique collection of essays over a 20-year period illustrates important shifts in the medical and social history of breast cancer. She skillfully threads her way through the writings and ground-breaking work of women who helped to change our perspective on the disease. The earliest of these pioneers is Katharine Lee Bates, lyricist of "America the Beautiful." Her early memoir chronicling the death of a loved one from breast cancer in 1915 is reproduced here and set in its historical context. The contributions of other women follow, including those of Janet Lane-Claypon, an epidemiologist working in Britain in the 1920s; Irma Natanson, a housewife-turned-plaintiff in 1950s Kansas; and Ruth Handler, inventor of both the Barbie doll and the modern breast prosthesis. The book then pulls away from the personal and looks at changes in the way the disease has been represented over the past quarter century—in the media, in books, online and in the public relations campaigns of breast cancer charities, following the rise of pink ribbon cause marketing. It raises questions about the impact of these changes and their implications for our future response to the disease.