Gwyneth Paltrow’s website, Goop, is a beautiful website with $2000 coats to shop next to stories about the best way to grow out your “bangs” and “postnatal depletion – even 10 years later”. Everything slips past the senses in a sea of Gwyneth Paltrow’s sanguine style, smart images, cool fonts and clever packaging.
Who wouldn’t believe that these “fall” coats will make you look and feel like a different person (perhaps a healthy, slim, stellar blonde who is gluten free, dairy-free, pesticide-free … everything-free)? Who wouldn’t believe that you immediately need to stop eating red meat, throw away sugar or start doing hot yoga? Who wouldn’t believe you need to stop wearing underwire bras because they give you breast cancer?
This week Paltrow’s website, Goop, linked wearing underwire bras with breast cancer, quoting debunked research. Dr Sadeghi an L.A. “Old Soul” integrative medical doctor wrote the piece claiming that lymph nodes are restricted by the underwire therefore causing toxins to build up, and that the metal in the underwire conducts electro-magnetic fields from Wi-Fi and mobile phones.
The article appeared on a website that has around 1.3 million subscribers world-wide and is ranked one of the top 7,000 websites in the US. It is also read, predominately one supposes, by women who wear bras with underwire and fear breast cancer.
Experts have come out and categorically dismissed the claims.
“Claims that wearing a bra can cause breast cancer are not credible and have been widely debunked by breast cancer researchers,” says Jackie Coles, acting CEO of Australia’s National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).
“There is no scientific proof that wearing an underwire or tight-fitting bra increases your risk of breast cancer. It is so important to improve general knowledge around breast cancer and dismiss misconceptions, like this one, that are damaging, confusing and can distract from what the real aim should be… preventing deaths from breast cancer.”
Ok. Paltrow was wrong (but she’s so pretty and healthy looking…). But the question needs to be asked: Is publishing information that has been widely debunked in the medical and scientific community to a large audience and running a tagline that says The views expressed in this article intend to highlight alternative studies and induce conversation. They are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Goop, and are for informational purposes only … responsible?
Already this week Paltrow has suggested that fighting the flu this season is best done via infrared and clearlight sauna.
“All contagion aside … #fluday5 #infraredsauna #clearlightsauna #iwilltryanythingatthispoint.”
Again, there is no scientific evidence linking flu and the healing power of saunas and, anyway, for the regular punter this “treatment” would be 1000 times more expensive than bed rest, hydration and a packet of Lemsip flu sachets.
It’s stating the bleeding obvious but just because you are pretty, have appeared in movies, have heaps of money, were once married to a rock star, can do minimalist chic like nobody’s business and don’t eat 99 out of 100 food stuffs, doesn’t mean you have gone to medical school for seven or so years and it doesn’t mean you know how to responsibly edit an influential website.
Every woman who reads this, or Paltrow’s site, will be tugging on her bra today. Feeling those hard bits of wire against their chest, mentally calculating how many hours in the day she wears it, mulling over in her head the logic that the wire is squashing lymph nodes and has the ability to conduct electro-magnetic fields. Every woman is trying to dismiss the claims on Goop, but maybe, just maybe …
I’m sure Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t meaning to be irresponsible and stress so many women with an article that lacks any semblance of scientific rigor, I just don’t think she’s been told to shut up very often, or taken aside for a quiet: ‘You are talking absolute rubbish Palts’.
A website that reaches so many women, and has the power to influence, is a huge responsibility. Women come to Goop to digest a range of carefully curated content and Paltrow and her editors need to think carefully about the pros and cons of publishing content on complex issues that scaremongers. Otherwise, stick to wheat-free recipes that will change your life.
Because, according to the NBCF these are the risks for breast cancer: “ageing and, in a small percentage of cases, family history,” Coles says. “There are some very important things we can do to help reduce our chances of getting the disease and that is, know your family history, know the look and feel of your breasts, go for screening if eligible, reduce your alcohol intake, don’t smoke, eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, breastfeed if you can and if you do notice anything unusual see your doctor immediately.”
It’s not stylish. It’s not controversial. It’s not pretty. But it’s from an informed source and it’s what women need to hear about breast cancer.
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