Empowerment

• LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 4 Times Entertainment proudly announces JoAnn M. Hunter as the director of the Broadway bound Jo – The Little Women Musical.
• "The creative team has written a piece about an iconic character in literature with a lovely freshness to it," says Hunter.
• She graced the stage in over a dozen shows on Broadway including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Kiss Me Kate and Chicago.
• Casting and Workshop Dates for Jo – The Little Women Musical will be announced shortly.

• The Songs of Love Foundation, a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, has been dedicated to creating free, personalized, original songs for children and teens facing tough medical, physical, or emotional challenges for over 28 years.
• The study, titled "The acceptability of Songs of Love for youth living with chronic pain," marks a pivotal moment for The Songs of Love Foundation, demonstrating the effectiveness of personalized music as a complementary intervention for pain management.
• It involved interviews with 15 youth who received a personalized song and six singer-songwriters who created the songs, exploring the program's acceptability from both perspectives.
• The positive feedback from both the youth participants and the singer-songwriters involved in the study highlights the transformative power of personalized music."

• Today, Visible Wireless, the Verizon-owned, all-digital wireless carrier, launched its 3rd annual Singles Awareness Day campaign to help society sing a new tune about celebrating singles.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240215119837/en/
  Singer-songwriter Maren Morris, in partnership with Visible Wireless, celebrates Singles Awareness Day with her reimagined cover of Billy Idol’s iconic hit “Dancing with Myself.” The release debuts today on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and other streaming services, making it entirely digital and accessible to everyone – just like Visible's wireless service.
• “I am so excited to partner with a company like Visible who prioritizes self-empowerment and independence for their mobile plans,” said Maren Morris.
• "Dancing with Myself (reimagined)" is available on Spotify and other streaming services, making it entirely digital and accessible to everyone – just like Visible's wireless service.

• In the 1980s, companies co-opted messaging about female autonomy to encourage women’s consumption of unhealthy commodities, such as tobacco and alcohol.
• Today, feminist narratives around empowerment and women’s rights are being co-opted to market interventions that are not backed by evidence across many areas of women’s health.
• Some of these health technologies, tests and treatments are useful in certain situations and can be very beneficial to some women.

The AMH test

• The AMH test is a blood test associated with the number of eggs in a woman’s ovaries and is sometimes referred to as the “egg timer” test.
• Although often used in fertility treatment, the AMH test cannot reliably predict the likelihood of pregnancy, timing to pregnancy or specific age of menopause.

• Despite this, several fertility clinics and online companies market the AMH test to women not even trying to get pregnant.
• Some use feminist rhetoric promising empowerment, selling the test as a way to gain personalised insights into your fertility.
• 'Egg timer' tests can't reliably predict your chance of conceiving or menopause timing

  Our recent study found around 30% of women having an AMH test in Australia may be having it for these reasons.

Breast density notification

Breast density is one of several independent risk factors for breast cancer. It’s also harder to see cancer on a mammogram image of breasts with high amounts of dense tissue than breasts with a greater proportion of fatty tissue. While estimates vary, approximately 25–50% of women in the breast screening population have dense breasts.

• Stemming from valid concerns about the increased risk of cancer, advocacy efforts have used feminist language around women’s right to know such as “women need to know the truth” and “women can handle the truth” to argue for widespread breast density notification.
• Yet, there is no or little mention of the lack of robust evidence showing that it prevents breast cancer deaths.
• While stronger patient autonomy is vital, campaigning for breast density notification without stating the limitations or unclear evidence of benefit may go against the empowerment being sought.

Ensuring feminism isn’t hijacked

• But we need to ensure the goals of feminist health advocacy aren’t undermined through commercially driven use of feminist language pushing care that isn’t based on evidence.
• Health professionals and governments must also ensure that easily understood, balanced information based on high quality scientific evidence is available.

Brooke Nickel receives fellowship funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). She is on the Scientific Committee of the Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference. Tessa Copp receives fellowship funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). She is also on the Scientific Committee of the Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference.