Beauty and the Breast: Mobilizing Community Action to Take on the Beauty Industry
2014
This case explores the social pressures and risks of cosmetic surgery for adolescent girls in the United States, and how mobilizing community action can change policy. It follows the actions of a concerned father whose 16-year-old daughter wants breast implantation surgery, and the efforts of a coalition of concerned parents and community advocates to enact legislation to protect vulnerable teens from the health risks of a pernicious beauty culture. Through this case students learn vital skills in policy advocacy and how to craft testimony for legislative hearings on important public health issues. This case is accompanied by a downloadable lesson plan that includes a homework assignment and in-class assignment instructions.
The case is one in a series of teaching cases developed by the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED), a graduate-level training initiative based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital, to engage students in real-world dilemmas, problem solving, and teamwork to tackle current, high-impact issues in eating disorders prevention.
Beauty and the Breast: Mobilizing Community Action to Take on the Beauty Industry
Source:
Weinberger E. Beauty and the Breast: Mobilizing Community Action to Take on the Beauty Industry. Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, Harvard University 2014. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/teaching-cases/beauty-and-the-breast.