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| Media: Where are our diabetes spokeswomen? (Brandy) |
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March 16, 2010 Hello again! Clocks have been moved forward again…and that means that spring is just around the corner! Yay! (I am not a cold weather person at all! And having four snow storms in one winter was a bit much for me!) Spring 2010 is especially exciting because it will go down in history as the date of the FIRST EVER national conference for women with diabetes! The Weekend for Women Conference is barreling forward at full speed and everything is coming together to make it a wildly successful event for all participants. I’m just glad I have a family vacation planned the week after! Did you see Celebrity Apprentice this week? In case you missed it, Bret Michaels, former Poison band member, has chosen the American Diabetes Association as his charity. At first, I was confused because when Donald Trump asked him what his cause was he said something like, “The American Diabetes Association (ADA) who does research on children with diabetes to find a cure.” Immediately, I thought he must have been talking about the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) rather than the ADA. But, I looked on the NBC website and found that he is indeed representing the American Diabetes Association. Specifically, his cause within the ADA is the camp program for kids with diabetes. Apparently, his mother was instrumental in forming some of the first camps. Ahhh! Now it makes more sense! (That’s a great example of why it is important for our spokespeople to know and understand our mission!)But, I’m still left with one question: Where ARE our female celebrities, athletes, actresses, etc. with diabetes? If I were given the awesome opportunity to be in the public spotlight as an actress, celebrity or athlete, I can think of nothing better to do with that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity than to educate and support people with diabetes—specifically women with diabetes. But, there seems to be a phenomenon going on that deserves some discussion. There seems to be two possible explanations for the high number of men celebrities with diabetes compared to the number of female celebrities with diabetes: 1) there are A LOT more men than women with diabetes who are famous or 2) men (who are famous) are more willing to talk about their diabetes than are women who are famous (and have diabetes). It makes me wonder: Is the lack of diabetes disclosure in Hollywood really a gender discrimination issue? For example- In order to be successful in Hollywood, women must have sex appeal and be seen as reproductively adept. Let’s face it, men want sex appeal! and disclosing diabetes doesn’t add to a female’s sex appeal from a male’s perspective. Furthermore, we’ve all heard the tragic stories of high-risk diabetes pregnancies which further reduce the public's view of women’s reproductive adeptness. On the other hand, it seems to be more accepted for men to come forward with their diabetes. Women seem to be more intrigued (less turned off) by men who disclose their diabetes. In fact, women may even view a man disclosing his diabetes as a sign of bravery and strength. When a man then goes far enough to devote himself to a cause, women see that as an appealing trait in a man. Furthermore, it may be common knowledge that diabetes can affect a man’s sexual function, but even men’s sexual dysfunction has a widely accepted solution (i.e. Viagra). Hmmm….Maybe women in Hollywood aren’t coming forward with their diabetes because it will actually cost them jobs and hurt their careers. What do you think? Does Hollywood make it easier and more rewarding for men to come forward about their diabetes than for women to do so?
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